49 House of Horrors
by ARtheBard
Summary: After a tip from Agent Pete Cartwright, the team heads to Long Island, NY to investigate a child pornographer. The team has to dive into the dark, twisted world of the unsub to find him and stop him before he moves his business somewhere else. But when he gets desperate, an agent may pay with more than their life.
1. Chapter 1

With the children gone, Emily and JJ set up their laptops in the kitchen so they can work as they eat the pizza they brought home with them. They haven't been at work long when the doorbell rings. Before JJ can get to the door, it opens and Garcia walks in carrying an overnight bag and pulling her rolling computer case. JJ looks at her in confusion.

"Uh, hi. What's up?"

"We leave early. Yes, we, me included. So, I'm staying here tonight because in addition to it allowing me to sleep a little longer I can start to look at the horribleness that is this case without being alone." She looks at the pizza box. "I've already eaten but let me grab a goblet and help you with that wine."

Emily and JJ exchange a look. They shrug, not at all minding the uninvited but very welcome guest. The three women sit in silence studying the information Hotch had sent them. After about an hour, Emily sits back in her chair. She looks up and studies her wife. She sees the empathy in the blue eyes for the children hurt and the families who lost their child mixed with the anger at the unsub. Emily then glances at Garcia, who sits beside JJ, and sees the anger and disgust in the woman's eyes.

It amazes the brunette: both women are reading the same information but their reactions to it are so different. And both are preparing their hearts, shielding them, for the tough case ahead. The way they approach the information and the eventual suspect will be so different than her own way. Each member of the team will take this information in their own way and they will bring those ways together to form the nucleus of the case.

"Keep profiling me and I will kick you," JJ warns, her eyes never leaving the computer screen.

Emily grins. "Not profiling you. Not really. Just…studying you and Pen and thinking about how different we all are on this team and yet we form an incredibly cohesive unit. Our different ways of processing these horrors work so well together. This case is going to suck but we are going to be there for each other and the victims and we're going to stop the bastard responsible."

JJ raises an eyebrow. "So, you weren't profiling us, you were putting us into a case study in your head. Good thing I love you, nerd girl."

Emily and Garcia laugh. Emily shuts her computer down. "I'm through with this for now. Going to get my computer packed up and ready to go. Then I'm going to watch a mindless movie."

Garcia snaps her computer closed. "I'm with you."

"Give me 5 more minutes and I'll be in there with you," JJ promises.

A little while later the three women are watching a comedy and trying to clear their heads knowing the case they will be immersed in starting tomorrow will lead them down a dark path until it concludes. They needed this brief respite from the coming storm.

* * *

Once the jet reaches cruising altitude the next morning the team gathers in the center. Hotch sighs.

"So what do we know?"

"That we're going to need a lot of scotch to get over this one," Rossi states seriously.

Everyone agrees.

Emily sits forward. "Do we know if there are any bodies in the house? Like Gacy?"

"So far no child has been found but Cartwright ordered the scene to be held intact until we arrive. He understands we have to see it just as it is to get into the unsub's head," Hotch replies. "He did have them video and take stills of the entire place and he's ordered ground penetrating radar to come in today to scan the yards."

Emily nods. "Do we have missing child reports for New York and the surrounding states?"

Garcia takes this one. "Compiling as we speak. Sadly, it is a huge list and until we get on scene and I can get into his computers we won't be able to match faces. And if this guy is as demented as we think he will most likely have a kill bug on his computer."

"Meaning if you enter the wrong password it's wiped clean?" JJ confirms.

"Yes. I'm going to first try to clone his drives without opening them."

"Is that possible?" Morgan asks.

"If the program I have been working on for the better part of a year does what it's supposed to, yes."

"And if not?" Hotch asks.

"If not we'll have to use a regular password breaker and cross our fingers. I have a dummy computer with me to test the program on once I finish tweaking it."

Hotch nods. "Keep working on it, Garcia. If anyone can do this it's you. Once we get into the computers, JJ, Reid, you'll help Garcia go through all the information on them." The two agents nod. "Morgan, Rossi, I want you to walk the house with Cartwright and after that start talking to neighbors. Prentiss, I need you to go through the videos and photos he has to profile the children. We need to know what he was looking for in a victim. That will help us narrow the missing children list and hopefully help us focus the profile."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll take the point with the media. I want you all concentrating on finding this bastard and if this does prove to be as extensive as Cartwright thinks it could be Katie Cole may be stepping in to help."

"Does she have anything that can help us narrow the profile down?" Rossi asks.

"Not yet but she is on call if we need her. Anything solid that she can investigate I will get to her," he replies. He takes a moment to look each member of his team in the eyes. "Cases involving children are always the hardest. This one looks like it could be one of the worst we've ever seen. If at anytime you need to step away from the scene to clear your head there is no shame in that. We need to be at our best and sometimes that means stepping away to get perspective. Do what you have to do," he advises them.

The team nods. Soon the only sound is Garcia typing away and mumbling to herself as she refines her cloning program.


	2. Chapter 2

In the dining room of the small house JJ plugs in the last cord and looks at her best friend. "All set, Pen."

Garcia nods and attaches her computer to the dummy computer. She starts to type, loading the program into the dormant computer. After a few minutes she smiles.

"I think it's…FUCK!"

An icon comes up informing her the dummy computer wiped itself clean. Garcia presses her fingers into her temple, trying to figure out what she has done wrong. Reid and JJ exchange a look, wishing they could help but knowing what the analyst is doing is far beyond their skills.

Garcia suddenly sits up. "AH! YES!"

She starts to type, refining the code. A few minutes later she re-launches it. This time, the dummy computer starts to hum and a second screen set up beside it starts to scroll information. Garcia slides down to stare at that screen.

"YES!" She turns to JJ and Reid. "Got it."

JJ pats her on the shoulders. "Pen, you are freakin' awesome!"

Soon the unsub's 2 computers are hooked up to new drives. Garcia launches her program into both computers. Reid and JJ watch in awe as the computers divulge all their secrets into Bureau computers. JJ glances at Reid.

"The good news is we're about to see into his dark, demented world. The bad news is…we're about to see into his dark, demented world."

Reid nods. "Yeah. Lucky us."

Reid and JJ start to go through the documents on the drives they are working on. Garcia starts to filter out the videos hoping to find clear images of the unsub and the children to run against various databases. It doesn't take long for all 3 to start feeling the onset of migraines as they dive into this disgusting world.

* * *

Upstairs in what looks to be an office Emily stares at the stacks of DVD's and pictures. She runs a hand through her hair and turns on the small TV in the room. She sees a DVD is already in the player and grabs a stack of photos. Maybe if she does two things at once she can get through it before she goes insane with fury. She turns on a digital recorder to log her thoughts as she has them.

She starts to flip through the photos. "All prepubescent boys. So far look to be approximately between 7 and 10. No adults appear in the photos in folder titled "Around the House."

She sets that folder aside and stares at the TV a moment. With a sigh of resignation she hits play on the DVD player. The volume is turned up nearly to full.

"NO! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"

Emily slaps the power button, stopping the screams from the young boy being violated. Her face is buried in her hands when Morgan runs in.

"Emily?"

Emily takes a deep breath and looks up. "DVD. It was…" she shakes her head.

"Damn, Em. Look, maybe Rossi and Cartwright can canvas the neighborhood once he gets back from the New York office. I can help you with this."

Emily shakes her head. "Pete is good but you and Rossi know what to ask people, what to watch for when they answer. I'll be okay. Should have known better than to just turn on what this motherfucker had been watching last."

He rubs her shoulders. "Okay. But if you need help I'll be here."

She smiles and pats one of his hands. "Thanks, Derek. Do me a favor? Close the door when you go? The others don't need to hear this shit."

He nods. "Okay. See you later, Em."

Emily ejects the DVD and reinserts it so it will start at the beginning. She turns on the TV and turns the volume down until it is nearly mute. Sadly, she would have to hear some of it in case the unsub spoke. His accent and dialect would help them solidify a profile on him.

She hits play, turning her emotions to stone to get the job done. A small, dark-haired, terrified boy stands naked in the center of the screen. An adult male, also naked, enters the shot. Emily freezes the image. Though his head is not visible, she studies his body for tattoos, scars or birthmarks. He is clean. She does note the counter-stamp with a full view of his penis. It could be used later to help i.d. him.

She hits play and watches as the man starts to caress the young boy. She shivers, wishing she could stop what she knows is about to happen. She wants to fast forward, wants to skip ahead but knows that could mean missing something that could later help with prosecuting the bastard in the video.

Two hours, three DVD's and hundreds of photos later, Emily walks out of the office and down the stairs. She passes Reid in the hallway.

"Emily? You okay?"

She just raises a hand to stop his questions and continues out the back door. The front door had too many TV cameras on it. The backyard had been secured by police and offers the only privacy outside of the house of horrors. She sits down on the back steps and stares out across the yard, trying to will the images to leave her head for just a few minutes.

She senses her wife before she hears her. JJ just sits down and takes Emily's hand. What words could be said? What other comfort could be offered? JJ had seen clips of what was on the DVD's and in the photos. She had read the descriptions used to sell them. But her wife had actually seen them. For 10 minutes they sit silently.

"There…there are hundreds, Jen. Some are probably duplicates but…but the others are…shit…"

"I know, Em. Do you need help?"

"NO!" Emily shouts. She sighs shamefully when she sees the look on JJ's face. "I…I'm sorry. But I don't want you to see that shit if you don't have to, Jen. I don't want anyone seeing it. Why should all of us be haunted by those images?"

JJ just nods. She leans her head over onto Emily's shoulder, hoping just being there will be enough to help center her wife before she gets back to work.

* * *

Morgan and Rossi shut the fifth and final bedroom in the house. Each one had a theme: doctor's office, gym, playground, bedroom, and torture chamber. The last was the largest, taking up nearly the entire basement.

The two men lean against the wall. After a moment, Rossi looks at Morgan.

"Emily is having to watch what happened in these rooms."

Morgan nods. "Yeah. And she'll filter out just what we need to complete the profile. It's not right that she shoulders that alone, Rossi."

"I know." But for now there is nothing they can do to help her. He glances at his watch. "Cartwright should be here any minute. Let's get with him, get his initial impressions of this place, and then go talk to the neighbors, especially the guy that called in the tip."

Morgan nods. "Okay."

"And, Derek, when she needs to lose it, just be there for her," Rossi says compassionately.

"You know I will be," Morgan promises.

They go upstairs to find Hotch talking to Peter Cartwright. Morgan extends his hand.

"Good to see you again, though I wish for better reasons."

Cartwright nods. "Me, too. After what you all did for Vicky I was…I swear, I wish I could have called in a different team but you all really are the best."

Rossi nods. "We understand."

"Pete," Emily says from behind the team.

They all turn and see the Prentiss women approaching them. Pete steps to her and gives her a hug.

"Hey, Em. Sorry this is what finally gets you up to New York."

She forces a smile to her face. "Me, too. How're Vicky and the kids?"

"All good."

"Great."

Pete gives JJ a hug. "Good to see you, JJ."

"You, too, Pete."

Emily pats her wife on the shoulder. "Well, I still have piles of hell to get through. See you later, Pete. Tell your family I said hi."

He nods. "I will."

They all watch as Emily walks up the stairs. Hotch just looks at JJ, his eyebrow up. JJ gives him a reassuring nod.

"Well, I need to get back with Reid and Garcia," she says and takes her leave.

Rossi looks at Pete. "So, how about you take Morgan and me to the guy that called in the tip? After that, we can canvas the neighborhood as best we can with people at work. Luckily this part of Long Island is still a place where neighbors take note of what's going on around them."

Hotch looks at the three men. "I'm making a statement at noon to say the investigation is in its early stages and asking for the public to step forward with anything they think could be helpful."

"Good," Morgan says. "The more leads the better."

"Exactly. I'll be manning the hotlines at the New York office. It will be better to have the tips and media centralized there. But if you all need me here I'll get here with lights and sirens, understood?"

Rossi nods. "Sounds good."

Just then the front door opens and two techs enter. "Agent Cartwright?"

Pete steps towards them. "Yes?"

"I'm Billy Gonsalves. We're here with the GPR."

"Good. Bring it to the backyard. If there are bodies I doubt he'd have been stupid enough to bury them out front. Not as long as it looks like he's been at work here."

The two men nod and go get their equipment. Hotch goes ahead and leaves to start drawing the media back towards New York City and hopefully take some of the circus away from this street.

* * *

Up in the office, Emily freezes an image. She frowns and backs it up a little. She swallows and shakes her head.

"Son of a bitch…it's a different guy."

She hadn't been surprised to see another little boy, this time a young blonde. But the unsub is definitely different. She makes note of the counter stamp and notes that this man's penis is shorter but wider. He also has blonde pubic hair showing while the other man had been clean-shaven. She closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"Why the hell did you sign up for this again, Prentiss? Fucking second dumbest mistake you ever made," she scolds herself.

That said, she hits play again and starts to watch and listen, hoping for anything that can be used to find the second man that had used this house to abuse children.

* * *

Reid sits up straight. "It's a coded sales list!"

Garcia and JJ look at him. "What?"

"It's his sales list. He kept it as insurance against blackmail but he coded it. I'll be in the living room. I need to spread out so I can break the code."

JJ and Garcia nod. JJ looks at her best friend. "Let's hope to hell he finds what we need to end this sooner rather than later."

"I second that. Jayje, come look at this file. It's confusing."

"Why's that?"

"Well, its title is the street address of this place. But it looks to be a list of names, all in code. But why?"

JJ frowns. "Could be lists of people who actually came here to buy or…shit…abuse the children in person."

Garcia blanches. "Oh, God. Uh, I'll set it aside for Reid."

JJ shakes her head. "No, give it here. If it was people that actually came here we need to know them. Morgan and Rossi will need pictures to show around. Reid needs to decipher this first."

Garcia prints out the 15 page list. When it's done, JJ takes it to Reid and he agrees it should be deciphered first. He stares at it a moment, then starts to walk around the house. His mind runs through various probabilities but it could be the cipher is here in the house. He glances up the stairs.

"And if it is, it's in the office," he mumbles.

He goes upstairs and taps on the door. Emily pauses the video she's watching.

"Yeah?"

Reid walks in. "We found some coded documents. The key would probably be in here."

Emily nods and looks around. "Most likely. This is where he did the business end of his shit."

"I'll look around."

"Okay. I'll keep watching. I need to get through this shit so I can obliterate my mind tonight."

Reid just pats her shoulder and starts to carefully look over the books and knickknacks in the room. He winces as he hears a young boy being coached on things to ask his abuser.

"Prison will be too good for this fuck," he mutters.

"I second that," Emily concurs.

After a few minutes, Reid reaches for the only book in the room that looks to be a classic.

"I have a hard time believing he reads Shakespeare," he mumbles.

He opens the book and smiles. Like an old prison movie prop, the pages in the middle have been carved out and a small black notebook sits in the hollow.

"The proverbial black book," he says proudly.

"Reid, we have a bigger problem than we thought," Emily says softly.

Reid looks at her. "What's that?"

"There are multiple unsubs here. And each time a new one shows up the child appears surprised or scared. They are then bent to the will of the new unsub." Emily wipes a tear that had escaped the hard mask she is trying to keep on her face. "I think this place…is a playground for multiple sick fucks. And I think one man controls it. He has the kids here and somehow gets word out to his network."

"And then his network comes to…shit…and the DVD's are just part of the package."

"Yes. But he also sells them to others. I've found the originals where you can still hear the children scre…" her voice chokes off. She clears her throat. "You can hear the children screaming. Then there are others where the screams are edited out and words are added in or just music. He makes it sound like…like the kids are enjoying it."

Reid stares at the frozen image on the screen of a terrified little red-headed boy. "I'll tell JJ and Garcia to look for his sales lists and his regulars."

Emily turns to Reid. "He's overly careful about keeping the faces off the video. I have a hard time believing he doesn't have collateral on these men; something to keep them in line."

"He has their faces somewhere," Reid understands.

"Yeah. Maybe hidden on one of those drives; maybe here somewhere. But I am sure we can find who the hell he has here buying time with these poor little boys."

Reid nods. "Do you need a break or help or anything?"

Emily shakes her head. "No, I'm good right now. Thanks."

Reid stands a moment. "You're not going to turn that back on until I leave, are you?"

Emily shakes her head. "I know what's coming next. Why should you have to know it, too?"

Reid pats her on the shoulder and leaves, closing the door behind him as a little boy starts to scream "No."

"Oh, Em," he murmurs before making his way downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Probably should have put this at the first chapter but here it is. This was a VERY hard story to write. In fact, had it in my head for a while but wanted to make sure I could make it through the whole thing. I just barely made it. There are no graphic depictions of what happens to the children but it is hinted at as Emily looks at evidence and a survivor is interviewed.**

**My heartfelt prayers and respect go out to the cops/agents that deal with these types of cases in real life. I can't imagine what they must go through or how they manage to banish the images to sleep at night. Here's hoping they all have a "Westfallen" they can count on to help out.**

**-AR**

* * *

Morgan and Rossi are standing on the back steps with Cartwright as the two techs painstakingly sweep the backyard with GPR. A couple times they had paused and circled an area with the apparatus only to continue on again.

Morgan, tired of waiting, steps off the back steps and starts to study the foundation of the house. He frowns as he gets to the corner. In his contractor mind, he measures the distance from the front of the house to the back. He then pictures the torture chamber in the basement. He shakes his head.

"This isn't right," he says aloud to himself. "The house is longer outside. There's two feet of wall unaccounted for." He goes back to Rossi and Cartwright. "Pete, does that GPR machine have an attachment to scan walls?"

"It should. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we're missing 2 feet of wall inside."

"Son of a bitch. He may have put early victims in the wall."

Morgan nods. "And he covered that by building the dungeon."

Rossi sneers. "Fucker probably got off every time he performed down there knowing his victims were 'watching' him."

Morgan nods. Pete pales.

"Damn I'm glad I don't know shitheads the way you guys do."

It takes another hour for the backyard sweep to end. No bodies are found. The techs them move inside and go to the wall that makes the basement too short. It isn't long until Gonsalves turns to them.

"Agents? We have a body."

Morgan shakes his head. "I fucking hate being right about this kind of shit."

By the time they get to the end of the wall, they have marked where 3 bodies are concealed behind the wall. Rossi turns to Pete.

"Get JJ to help you with arranging the extraction of the bodies. Morgan and I need to get out there and talk to the tipster and anyone else who may have seen something. This place has been a torture chamber for children for years."

Pete nods as he calls his boss to give him an update. Morgan and Rossi head upstairs. They run into JJ in the hallway. She sees the looks on their faces and her shoulders slump.

"There was a body?"

"Three," Morgan corrects.

"Oh, my God."

"Get with Pete. Profile the graves and what the children were wearing or buried with," Rossi orders her. She nods. "We've got to get talking to the witnesses." He glances at his watch. "It's 2 o'clock. I'll call Hotch. As soon as an M.E. van shows up the media will be swarming back here. Let's have something other than dead kids for him to give them."

JJ nods. "Yes, sir. Does Emily know?"

"Not yet. Once you see what the kids are buried with get her pictures. Maybe she can match them to things she's seen in photos or on DVD."

JJ nods. She takes a deep breath. "We just had 2 weeks downtime. Why do I feel like we're going to need it again after this case?"

The other agents don't answer. When you're right, you don't need confirmation of it. As Morgan and Rossi leave, JJ goes back to the dining room.

"Pen, they found 3 bodies downstairs."

"Oh, my God. Oh, those poor babies."

"Yeah. I'm going to be with Pete to make sure the graves are profiled and documented for our needs. Any luck yet on the blackmail info Reid and Emily think is in there?"

"Nothing yet. If I find something I'll get with Reid."

"Okay."

JJ takes a second to steady herself then goes downstairs. Pete is hanging up his phone just as she gets there.

"Coroner and her team are on their way to monitor the extraction of bodies."

JJ nods towards the techs. "They're scanning the floor?"

Pete nods. "Better safe than sorry."

"Yeah, I guess so."

A few minutes later, Gonsalves looks up. Pete and JJ both wince. "Yeah, there's a kid here, too," the tech says sadly.

JJ calls Hotch to give him an update as Pete calls the M.E. It is going to be a long night on Long Island.

* * *

"Edmund Banner? I'm Derek Morgan, this is David Rossi with the FBI. We understand you called the police about your neighbor when the Amber Alert was issued?"

The man nods. "Yes. He was always very secretive. Hated it when people said hi to him. I had kind of figured to each their own and went on with life. Then I saw him with a little dark-haired boy. He was dragging the kid in. Didn't look like him so I figured nephew or something. Then I saw the news broadcast and couldn't get past the thought that the picture on the TV was the little boy. When they mentioned what the kid was wearing I knew it was him."

"And you called the police?" Rossi asks.

"Yeah. I saw the guy carrying a bag out to his car. I went outside and tried to stall him but it didn't work. He was gone before the police and FBI arrived."

"You didn't see the boy with him?" Morgan presses.

"No. But he may have already put the kid in the van."

"True," Rossi agrees. "Did he have a lot of guests?"

"Not at the same time. He'd have a guy over for a couple days then someone else. It was weird. That was always the pattern there."

Morgan frowns. "The pattern? What do you mean?"

"Well, this guy is the fifth tenant there in the last 2 years. They stick around about 5 or 6 months then move on."

Rossi and Morgan exchange a look. This house was a playground being passed around by pedophiles. Time to get Garcia to do a heavy background on the owner of the property.

"Do you know the owner?" Morgan asks.

"Oh, yeah, Ethel Steinberg. She moved to Florida. Said she was tired of New York winters. Kept the property, though, so she could rent it out."

"Is there anything else that sticks out about the property or the various tenants?"

"Nothing really. The other four guys were fairly friendly. Only this last guy was stand-offish."

Rossi extends his hand. "Thank you very much for the information. If anything else comes to mind, please call me or the New York FBI office." He hands the man his card.

"I sure will, Agent. Good luck catching this guy."

"Thanks."

The two Agents step out and glance over to see the M.E. teams loading gear into the house. Morgan pulls out his phone.

"Garcia? I know you're swamped but it turns out there were 5 tenants here over the last 2 years. We need a deep background run on the owner of this property."

"Okay. Give me 10 minutes and I can probably get a computer running that."

"You okay?"

"Morgan, they have found a total of 7 bodies downstairs. Three in the walls, 4 in the floors. No, I'm _not_ okay. I'm not sure I'll be okay any time soon."

"Damn, Baby Girl. I wish I could say something to make it better."

"Me, too."

"Look, Rossi and I are going to go talk to neighbors. If we're needed, call."

"I will. Thanks, Morgan."

"Keep a smile on, Garcia."

"Yeah, maybe. Bye."

Morgan hangs up and tells Rossi about the findings in the basement. Rossi shakes his head. "How the hell were these guys and this house not on Cole's radar? Or someone's?"

"Who knows? Let's just keep trying to find our unsub and maybe he can answer all our questions."

* * *

Emily has just started a tenth stack representing the tenth boy she has found in the piles of DVD's. She sits back in her chair, stretching her neck to ease the tension as best she can. She is about to sit forward when there is a distinctive thump on the ceiling above her. She stares at the ceiling, listening. She hears a shuffling sound.

"Holy shit…there's an attic," she whispers.

She carefully checks the room she is in but does not find an entrance. She goes room to room before finally discovering the carefully hidden entrance in the closet of the "doctor's office" room. She pulls out her phone.

"Jen, where are you?"

"In the basement with Pete. The forensic teams are about to start to busting into the walls."

"Tell them to wait. I need you and Pete up here now. There's an attic. And there's noise coming from it."

"Shit. Be right up."

A few minutes later Pete and JJ enter the room. Emily points to the seams marking the hidden entrance. She had already located a stepladder and moved it into place. Pete and JJ pull their guns. Emily would need both hands to get up there, leaving her vulnerable to whoever was on the other side of that door.

Emily nods to them and quietly climbs up onto the stepladder. She counts to three and shoves the door open, jumping back down to give JJ and Pete a shot if they need it.

Nothing happens.

Emily carefully climbs back up, this time her gun ready. "THIS IS THE FBI! COME TO THE OPENING WITH YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

There is the sound of shuffling moving away from the opening. Emily looks at JJ and Pete. They nod that they have her back.

Emily steps up so her head is now in the opening. She points her flashlight and gun towards where she had heard the noise. Her eyes widen.

"Oh my God."


	4. Chapter 4

Emily looks at Pete. "We need EMS. And, Pete, he'll probably be scared of men."

Pete nods in understanding, stepping out of the room to make the call, with a special request for female EMT's. Emily pulls herself all the way up into the attic. She stares at the terrified, dark-haired boy who had been in the very first DVD she had watched; the boy from the Amber Alert that had spurred the investigation. She doesn't approach him.

"Hi, my name is Emily. I'm a police officer. You're safe now, okay? No one is going to hurt you anymore. I promise. Can you come here so I can hand you down to my friend Jennifer?"

The boy shakes his head, trying to get farther into the corner. Emily nods and holds her position.

"Okay. We can just sit here for a few minutes. Can you tell me your name?"

The boy shakes his head again. Emily is not sure if little Victor Tobbin is too scared to speak or has been trained to forget his name.

"I see. Can you tell me how you got here?"

He lifts a shaking hand and points at the opening. Emily nods…of course he answered how he got into the attic.

_"He's traumatized, Emily. You saw what they did to him. It's going to take time to break through the terror,_" she cautions herself. She sits down cross-legged in front of him. "Do you mind if I just sit here and talk to you a little bit?"

He just stares at her, worried he'll answer wrong. Emily smiles.

"Your Mommy and Daddy are really missing you. They asked us to find you and now we have."

The little boy is frowning as if he doesn't believe her. Emily pulls out her phone and keys up the press conference his parents had spoken at 2 days before. She hits play and slides the phone over to him.

With shaking hands the little boy lifts the phone and stares at the screen. He starts to cry.

"M- -M- -Mommy," he stutters.

Emily nods. "Yes. Your Mommy and Daddy love you so much, Victor. If you come with me, I can take you to them."

"Em, the EMT's are here," JJ whispers from just below the entrance.

Emily nods. "Victor, do you think you can come with me? I have some nice people here who can help you feel better." He still looks scared. "I promise you, Victor, I won't let anyone hurt you." She carefully takes out her badge and slides it over to him. "That badge says I can and will protect you, okay? The bad man will not hurt you anymore. None of them will."

Victor takes the badge case and stares at it a moment. He looks back at the phone, frozen on an image of his crying parents. He slowly uncurls his body and crawls to Emily. She reaches out to him and he wraps his arms and legs around her. He starts to cry.

"It's okay, honey. It's okay," she whispers to him. "My friend Jennifer is going to help you get- -okay, okay, I'll just climb down with you," she says as his grip on her had tightened. She looks over her shoulder. "He's clinging to me, Jen. I'll need your help getting down but, uh, try not to touch him."

"Right, Em. Get your legs over and the EMT's and I will guide you."

With JJ and the two EMT's guiding her feet and then steadying her, Emily climbs down the ladder with Victor. He clings tighter when he sees the other three women.

"Victor, these are my friends. Ladies, tell Victor your names," she says so he doesn't register that Emily doesn't know the EMT's.

"I'm Jennifer but my friends call me JJ."

"I'm Teri and this is Brenda," the lead EMT introduces them. "It's good to see you, Victor. We've been worried about you."

Emily smiles at the woman. "See, Victor, they are here to help you and take you to your mommy and daddy. How about we get out of this room and they can look at your wounds, okay?"

Victor nods. They move to the hallway, where the EMT's gurney awaits. Emily sits him on it but he will not release her hand. She looks at Teri who just starts to talk him through the taking of his vitals.

No one says a word about the fact that he is nude or about the terrible bruising covering his poor little body. When Teri finishes checking him over, she looks at Emily.

"He's dehydrated but I don't want to start an IV in the field considering how scared he is. Any chance you can ride with us to the hospital? Will make treatment easier if his protector is there."

Emily looks at Victor. "Do you want me to go with you, Victor?"

The boy answers by tightening his hold on Emily's hand. She smiles and runs a hand over his head.

"Okay." Emily looks at JJ. "Let Hotch know."

"I will."

Emily convinces Victor to lie down and get covered by the sheet. As the EMT's carry him downstairs she stays right where he can see her. Garcia and Reid stand in the living room watching the little boy get carried out.

"Oh, that poor angel," Garcia says through tears.

Reid just puts an arm around her shoulder. "But he's alive, Garcia. He's leaving here alive," he points out, his mind on the bodies in the basement. Garcia just nods.

Emily glances at the road as she climbs in the back of the ambulance. She sees Morgan and Rossi staring at them. She manages a small smile, letting them know they at least have one victory on the day.

* * *

Hotch grabs his phone. "Yeah, JJ?"

"Hotch, Victor Tobbin was found in the attic. He's alive and on the way to the hospital. Emily is with him because she is the only one he trusts."

"Son of a bitch. How was he not found before?"

"The entry was well-hidden. Emily heard a noise above her and looked around. She nearly missed the trapdoor."

"Okay, I'll get a local agent to get the Tobbin's to the hospital. I've got a feeling my phone is about to light up with media questions. Once word gets out and is confirmed expect the circus to get back to the house."

"I know. Been there, done that."

Hotch grins. "Right. I forgot. What about the bodies?"

"Pete and I put a hold on their retrieval to help Emily. He's getting that going again now. I'm on my way down to do the profiling of the scenes."

"Good. What about the computers?"

"You'll have to ask Garcia or Reid about that. Rossi and Morgan are out talking to the witness and the neighbors. I'm not sure what they've found."

"Alright." Hotch glances at his watch. "Unless there is another major break, tell everyone to expect a status meeting there at the house at 8 p.m."

"Will do. Talk to you later, Hotch."

JJ hangs up and goes downstairs just as she hears the first saw start cutting into drywall.

"Yeah…sometimes the job just sucks," she mumbles.

* * *

Emily grimaces as Victor squeezes her hand extra hard when a male doctor walks in. Emily steps between the man and the boy.

"Doctor, he's been abused by men. A female doctor would be better."

The doctor takes in the blaring heart alarm and nods. "I understand."

He steps out of the room and the monitor calms down a bit. Emily turns and smiles at Victor.

"There, see, no one wants to hurt you. We're all here to help you. I promise."

The boy rolls onto his side, curling into the fetal position. Emily strokes his hair and starts to sing him a lullaby. A few minutes later a female doctor enters the room. She smiles kindly at the little boy.

"Hi, Victor. My name is Nancy and I'll be your doctor, okay?" He scoots closer to Emily. "And Emily can stay here, too. I just need to check you over, okay?"

Emily looks at the woman. "Did they explain we need a rape kit done? And photos?"

The doctor nods. "Yes. I work quite a bit with rape victims."

"It may scare him. The man that did this took pictures and video of the abuse."

"Understood. We'll walk him through it carefully."

There is a commotion in the hallway and a man and woman burst into the room. "VICTOR!" the woman screams.

Victor covers his head with his arms. He is terrified and shaking. Emily intercepts the distraught parents.

"Easy. He's probably been told you let this happen to him or that you'll be mad he let this happen. They're common ruses used by kidnappers and abusers. Just…be calm for him and try not to react to the bruises. He just needs to know he's not in trouble and that you love him."

The Tobbin's nod and move to their son's side. His father runs a hand over Victor's head. "Hi, son. Oh, we missed you so much. We love you, Victor."

Mrs. Tobbin can't speak for crying. She just rubs her little boy's arm. Victor slowly uncurls, looking up at them as if he has done something wrong. Mr. Tobbin leans over.

"You are safe, Victor. You are not in trouble. We would have never stopped looking for you. We love you."

Victor slowly reaches out his hand and takes his father's. "Da- -Daddy?"

Mr. Tobbin nods. "Yes, son, I'm right here. I love you."

Victor starts to cry again but this time they are tears of relief. He throws himself into his parent's arms. Emily and the doctor give them 5 minutes. Though she hates doing it, Emily steps toward the Tobbin's.

"Ma'am, sir, we really need to get the pictures and other evidence from him. We need to- -"

"NO!" Mr. Tobbin snaps. "No, we won't let you violate him more!"

"Sir, as a mother I understand wanting to protect him. But this is the best way to build an airtight case against the man that took Victor."

He gets in Emily's face. "Is that _all_ you care about? Getting a God damned conviction?"

"No, sir. I care about stopping this man from hurting another little boy. And I care about getting justice for the little boys who have come before Victor."

Mrs. Tobbin stands and moves towards Emily. "There…there were others?"

Emily nods, her stomach turning at the DVD's she had seen and the many she had yet to look through. "Yes, ma'am."

The woman slaps Emily. "How DARE you let a monster like that stay out on the streets! Why didn't you catch him sooner? How could you let him do this to my boy?"

It takes Emily a moment to respond. "Ma'am, we just found out about this man and that house yesterday. And today we're bringing Victor home to you. I wish we could have caught the man sooner but we just didn't know he was out there. Now we do. And now, with the evidence we get from the house and from Victor, we will find him and make him pay for his crimes."

It takes 5 more minutes but Emily finally convinces the Tobbin's to step into the hall so she and the doctor can gather what evidence they can from Victor. Emily stays in the little boy's line of sight the entire time and keeps telling him how brave he is. When they are done, Emily shakes the doctor's hand.

"Thank you so much for how you handled this."

The doctor nods. "Just wish I didn't have experience with this kind of thing. Good luck hunting this bastard down."

"Thanks."

As the doctor leaves, the Tobbin's race in. Emily smiles at Victor.

"Victor, is it okay if I go now? Your parents are here and there will be a police officer outside your room for as long as you are here."

"Why…go?" he asks quietly.

Emily smiles at him. "I want to find the man that hurt you. I want to arrest him so he can't hurt you or any other little boys ever again."

"Will…you…shoot him?"

Emily carefully considers her answer. "I…I want him to pay for what he did. I hope I can arrest him and make him go to jail forever."

Victor burrows into his mother's arms. "I want you to shoot him."

Emily doesn't know what to say. She pats his leg and looks at his parents. "Please, make sure he sees someone that specializes in this kind of trauma. There will be things he won't want to tell you but that he'll need to tell someone."

The boy's parents nod, wanting only to help their son heal as best they can.

"Also, someone will be back to speak with him about what happened."

"Can it be you? He trusts you?"

"Unfortunately, no. I've seen too much evidence to be impartial. But I'll come with whoever it is just to make it easier for him."

"Thank you, Agent Prentiss."

Emily promises to keep them informed on the status of the investigation and goes out to the nurse's station.

"Hi, think you can call me a cab to take me back to the crime scene?"

"I got this," Emily hears. She turns and sees Teri approaching. "My regular partner just got here. We'll give you a lift back."

"Thanks. And thank you for understanding why we needed two women. You and Brenda were great with him."

"Thanks. Sadly we've seen traumatized kids before. We just want to help however we can."


	5. Chapter 5

When the ambulance gets to the city block with the house they see there is no getting up the street by vehicle. Though the police are trying to regain order, media and onlookers crowd the street. A couple of media vans have even been double-parked and abandoned as their camera man and reporter try to get a shot of the activity around the house.

Teri turns to Emily. "Hate to say it, but I think you have to get out here."

Emily nods. "Looks like. Thanks again, guys. I really appreciate the assist and the lift."

"No problem, Agent. Just catch that motherfucker."

"I'll do my best."

It takes Emily 5 minutes, and two threats of arresting people for obstruction, to get through the mob and up to the house. She sees police cadets putting together scaffolds that will hold sheets to block from the public eye the removal of bodies. She shows her badge to the young officer guarding the door and goes inside.

She looks up the stairs towards the office but can't bring herself to go up there just yet. Instead she heads into the living room to see why Reid has pieces of paper scattered all over the place.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Reid shrugs. "He has several codes he- -what happened to your face?"

Emily looks confused. "What?"

"Your cheek is red. Did someone hit you?"

Emily brings her hand up to her cheek. "Oh. Forgot. Victor's mom slapped me. No big deal."

"Looks bad. Glad it isn't worse."

"Me, too. So what were you saying?"

"The unsub uses different codes for different things. I'm having to figure out what each document refers to by finding the right code."

"Damn. He's pretty fucking advanced," Emily states, looking at the papers all around the room.

"Yeah, he is."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not really. The codes are all in my head right now."

"Ah. Right."

He reaches out and takes her hand. "You don't want to go back to the office?"

Emily shakes her head. "Nope. I know I have to but…Reid I know what that little boy went through. I saw it happen to him. And I know there are bodies in the basement that are probably little boys I have watched getting abused. It's just…hard to handle right now."

"I imagine it is. What would you say if I told you to go to the hotel?"

"I'd tell you it has to be watched; it has to be looked through and why should the rest of you have the nightmares that are already going to plague me?"

Reid gives her a sad grin. "I kind of figured."

"Yeah. I'll let you get back to work. I'll be upstairs."

Reid nods and watches Emily go. He had noticed that cases involving children had gotten harder for her ever since she had become a mother. And he is not a bit surprised.

In the office Emily sits back down in the desk chair. She grabs the next DVD in the pile she is working on and puts it in. Steeling herself for what she is about to see, she hits play.

* * *

In the basement, JJ steps away from the last wall tomb. She looks at Pete.

"All three are children buried naked. They were just…just trash to be dealt with. The plastic they were wrapped in was probably just to help minimize the scent of decay. To the unsub the kids were toys to be used until they broke. And once they broke, he just had to get rid of them. He just wanted them close to remind himself of how much power he had over them."

"Son of a bitch," Pete says as the third body is zippered into a body bag.

"Yeah."

The head of the forensic team walks over. "Once again, nothing else in the hole with the kid. We're going to bust into the floor now. It will be awhile before we get to the graves. I'll let you know when we do. I doubt you want to be down here when the dust starts flying."

JJ and Pete nod. "Thanks," Pete tells the man as the two agents go upstairs.

In the hallway, Pete looks at JJ. "So, what's next?"

"I will get back with Garcia and Reid to see what I can do with them. Until Morgan and Rossi get back there is not much to do out in the neighborhood." She glances at her watch. "Hotch wants us to meet at 8 to go over what we know, what we need to know, and decide on the next course of action."

Pete nods. "Okay. I'll go see if Emily needs a hand. I just…hate the thought of her watching all that crap alone."

"She may still be at the hospital. If so, don't mess with anything because she would have already started cataloging and sorting it," JJ warns him.

Pete nods and heads up the stairs. He opens the door and sees Emily writing something on a legal pad.

"Hey, Em."

Emily turns, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. Pete sighs and steps in.

"How do you do it? I mean, I work in Missing Persons and know it happens but how do you do it knowing what you know about these bastards?"

Emily shrugs. "Used to be…not easy but easier. Now that I have Henry and Rocky it's just so much harder to keep it at arm's length. I just watched a little blonde haired, blue eyed boy get horribly abused. God, Pete, if someone ever touched Henry, even just looked at him wrong I'd…I'd…shit…"

Pete nods. "I know what you mean. I feel the same way anytime someone kidnaps a child that reminds me of my kids. I'm just glad I don't know the workings of the bastard's minds like you do."

Emily nods. "I hope you never do, my friend."

"So, is there anything I can help you with?"

Emily shakes her head. "No. I just…have to watch this shit and write down impressions of the unsub and make note of stills that can be used to i.d. the unsub or the child." She takes a deep breath. "There's a damn good chance some of these boys are the ones in the basement. If we can tie these videos to those boys then we can get every sick fuck that ever bought one of these as an accomplice to murder."

"We'll fry them all."

"We'll sure as hell try," Emily vows.

Pete pats Emily on the shoulder and heads out to see where else he might be of help. So far he'd felt pretty damn helpless and it was incredibly frustrating. It was not that he was upset with the BAU team. He just wants these monsters brought to justice and hates how long it was taking to get out of the house and onto the trail of the unsubs.

* * *

At 8:05 Hotch looks at his team and Pete Cartwright. He hates the dead looks in all their eyes but knows it can't be avoided. The only cure is finding the men who hurt and killed these children.

"Garcia, where are we on the owner of the house?"

Garcia sits up. "Ethel Steinberg, never married, has paid her property tax on time every year for the last 20 years. But in the last 2 years it has been by money order, not personal check as it was in the past. Additionally, her utilities also went from check to money order at the same time."

"Rossi, Morgan, get with her family and friends. What happened to her?"

JJ sits forward. "Uh, I think I might know, Hotch. One of the bodies in the basement floor looks to be an adult, not a child. They are working to carefully extract the bones in the floor from the cement and plan to work through the night. From what I saw, the suspected adult is the only one wearing clothes. Her hand even looked to have jewelry still on it."

"So she was just killed for the house," Pete says. "Bastards probably heard she was looking to move and used that to their advantage. Neighbors never suspected a thing."

Morgan nods. "That's our guess. We'll know more once we hear back from her cousin in Miami. She's on a cruise so we've had a message sent out to the ship for her to call as soon as she can."

"Good. Reid, the codes?"

"I've figured out the codes he uses. There are ones for men who pay for sex, people who order DVD's, ones who want to buy a child, and ones for men who just like to watch."

"Sick son of a bitch," Emily mutters angrily. JJ takes her hand hoping to calm her.

"By design or by sloppiness he didn't keep things in neat and tidy folders on his computers so I have to translate each document to figure out what I am looking at. Once I have them completely sorted we can use them to start going after all the different cars in this train of Hell," Reid finishes.

Finally Hotch turns to Emily. "Where are you in that office?"

"About half-way through the videos. Done with the loose pictures. The one thing that bothers me is there is the initial video of the child being abused then there is an edited video with music and voiceovers. But there is nowhere in this house for him to do the editing or to mass produce the DVD's. And in case you're wondering, yes, he has them mass produced including covers with the boy and…and…" She takes a deep breath. "And a table of content listing what is happening. Fuckers can actually choose a chapter to watch just like in commercial DVD's."

"So there has to be someone in his files with access to the equipment he needs to produce all that," Hotch concludes. He turns to Reid. "Find that man."

Reid nods. "I'll do my best."

"Morgan, Rossi, how did questioning the neighbors go?"

"Once the media swarmed back here when Victor was found it went to hell. They either wouldn't open the door because they didn't want to get on camera or they were so eager to get on TV they wouldn't talk to us. Maybe if things calm down tomorrow we'll have better luck," Rossi tells him.

"Okay. I say let's get out of here tonight and get back at it in the morning."

Emily shakes her head. "There are so many DVD's. I can go a little longer and- -"

"NO!" JJ, Reid and Pete all say.

Hotch looks at the three agents in surprise. So does Emily. JJ takes Emily's hand.

"Honey, you need to put it away for the night," she says gently.

Emily starts to argue but Hotch intervenes. "They're right, Prentiss. Clear your head so you don't risk missing something."

Emily finally nods. "Yeah, okay."

"Tomorrow, Morgan, Rossi, profile the basement graves. JJ, Pete, you two go interview Victor Tobbin."

Emily glances up. "Uh, Hotch, it might be best if I'm at least there to reintroduce Jen and to help Victor see Pete isn't a threat. He trusts me and right now trust is hard to come by for him."

Hotch nods. "Fine. Make the intros then get here." He thinks a moment. "Do you know what- -"

"Yes, I know what happened to him," she snaps. She then takes a calming breath. "His DVD was the first I saw. If I lead the interview defense attorneys could say I gave him the answers we wanted."

"Alright. Then let's get out of here."

The team makes their way outside, dodging the questions from the reporters still hanging around trying to get one more quote for the late news. Emily gladly gets in the backseat of an SUV. She glances back at the house, shivering as she thinks what might have happened to Victor if she hadn't heard him.

* * *

In their hotel room, JJ pulls her wife close. "Is there anything I can do?"

Emily studies her wife's face. "Can you hold me tonight? I just…I need that, Jen. I need you to hold me."

JJ gives her a kiss. "Of course, Emily. Why don't you get a shower and try to wash this hell off of you?"

"Join me? Not for sex. I just need…need to be close to you, Jen. I need…I need…"

"I know, sweetheart. How about I let you wash my hair?"

Emily smiles. "I think that sounds perfect." She kisses JJ's forehead. "So, why is it that me needing to center a bit gets you your hair washed?"

"Because taking care of me helps center you; helps remind you of the good in life."

Emily pulls her into a strong hug. "Yeah, I think that's it exactly. I love you, Jen."

"I love you, too, Emily."

Emily eases back and tilts her head curiously. "So, uh, why no comment about my cheek?"

JJ sighs. "Reid told me what happened. And, well, I kind of couldn't help but think how I'd react if…if…you know…"

Emily nods. "If it was Henry. God, Jen, there's a kid that…shit…he looks just like Declan did when I first met him. It really fucked me up. And then I implied to Pete it was about Henry. Last thing I needed was questions about who Declan is from someone who doesn't know about him. I just couldn't have handled it."

"I know, Emily. When this case ends and we have the unsub and all his, for lack of a better word, clients in custody, you can tell Pete the truth or not. For now, just forget the DVD's, forget the pictures, forget the bodies in the basement. Concentrate on the fact that you saved one little boy today. Victor Tobbin is alive and getting medical attention because of you. He's on your win list and he always will be. We were too late for the others but not for him."

Emily leans her forehead against JJ's. "I love you."

"Ditto, Mrs. Prentiss. Come on: let's go get that shower."

Emily nods and lets JJ take the lead. JJ is happy to do it. Emily had cared for her so much in the wake of the Alexandria case. Tonight, and for this whole case, it would be JJ's turn to return the love and care. They were a perfect team.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Reposting because I found an annoying typo after I originally posted it. :o)**

* * *

Emily smiles at Victor Tobbin. "Hi, Victor. You're looking better today."

"Thank you, Emily," he says softly.

Emily is thrilled to hear him speak so much. She had seen other children too traumatized to speak for weeks. She gestures behind her to JJ and Pete.

"Victor, do you remember my friend JJ? She helped when you came out of the attic." Victor nods. "Good. And this is our really good friend Pete."

Victor looks nervous as he stares at Pete. Emily swallows and continues.

"You know, Pete has children of his own: 2 daughters and a son. It makes him upset that someone hurt you and he wants to make sure he finds the bad man so he can't hurt you or anyone else ever again. Would it be okay if he and JJ speak to you about what you saw?"

Victor looks pleadingly at Emily. "Can't you do it?"

Emily shakes her head. "I wish I could but I…I have found out some things that could influence what you say. We have to make sure you tell us everything you remember without me saying the wrong thing. But I promise: JJ and Pete are here to help you and they are both very, very nice."

Victor bites his lip nervously. JJ steps forward.

"Victor, I have a little boy. His name is Henry. If someone hurt him the way they hurt you I would hope he could be as brave as you've been so far. Can you be brave a little longer and talk to me and Pete?"

Victor looks at Emily. "She's nice?"

Emily nods. "Very nice."

"And he doesn't hurt kids?"

Emily shakes his head. "He would never, ever hurt you, Victor. I promise." She takes out a business card and gives it to him. "This is my phone number. If they hurt you, call me and I will race back here to stop them, okay?"

He takes the card, clutching it as most children clutch a stuffed animal…as Henry clutches his teddy bear. She runs her hand over Victor's head.

"I promise you, Victor, you will be just fine with them."

The boy slowly nods. "Okay, Emily. I'll talk to them."

Emily smiles. "Thank you, Victor. Can I come see you later? Just to see how you are doing?"

He nods, almost smiling. "Okay."

"Good. I have to go now. But I'll see you later."

"Bye, Emily."

Emily gives JJ and Pete a smile as she leaves. JJ steps to the bed as Pete hangs back a little.

"Thank you for speaking with us, Victor. Now, can you tell us had you ever met the man who took you?"

Victor shakes his head.

"Okay. How did you end up with him?"

He glances towards his parents and shakes his head. JJ turns to them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tobbin, what I am about to ask you is going to be so hard for you. But can you please let us speak to Victor alone? He doesn't want to upset you or disappoint you."

Mrs. Tobbin grabs her son's hand. "Oh, Vic, you won't upset us. I promise."

JJ gestures for the couple to step away from the bed a moment. They reluctantly agree. She speaks so only they can hear.

"You all know he went through a horrible ordeal there. And he hasn't had time to talk it out with a professional or with a police officer. Both of those things will help him see he is not in trouble with us or you. Everything that happened is exactly what you have taught him not to do; taught him not to let happen. He won't talk it out in front of you because he doesn't want to get into trouble. By speaking with us and getting it all out in the open he will be able to face you when you finally hear it yourself."

The parents look at each other. After a heated whispered conversation Mr. Tobbin nods to JJ. He walks over to the bed.

"Victor, we'll be just outside, okay? Just…tell them whatever they ask, son. We love you."

Mrs. Tobbin just pats his leg and follows her husband out. JJ moves back to Victor's side.

"Okay, now you can tell us. We promise: we won't tell them what you say. You can tell them when you want to, alright?" Victor nods. "Right. So, Victor, how did the man get you?"

Victor plays with Emily's business card. "He told me he had puppies. I really wanted to see them. I could even hear them."

JJ nods. "Hear them? Where?"

"He had them in the trunk of his car. But then when he opened it they weren't there. He smacked me and shoved me in. He told me if I screamed or made noise he'd kill my Mommy and Daddy but if I was a good boy I'd get a reward."

"I see. Then what happened?"

"He closed the trunk and drove for a real long time. It was dark and I was scared. When we stopped he opened the trunk and we were between two big buildings. He put tape on my wrists and ankles and over my mouth. He then shoved me in a bag like Daddy takes to the gym but bigger. Then he drove some more and next time we stopped he carried me out of the car and we were in the house."

"That's great remembering, Victor," she praises him. "Really good. What happened in the house?"

"He took me upstairs to a bedroom. He cut the tape off my wrists and ankles and took it off my mouth. He smiled and said I could have a treat for being so good." He shivers. "He…he gave me a bad lollipop."

"What is a bad lollipop?" JJ asks.

"It was…it looked like…like my…" he can't say it but he points between his legs.

"Oh, Victor," she says sympathetically.

"He made me eat it while he took pictures. Told me how to eat it."

JJ nods, sure she can imagine just what was asked. "He was very bad. What did he do next?"

"He said my clothes were dirty and needed to be washed. He made me take them off."

And from there he describes the first time he was violated. JJ and Pete are both fighting to maintain control of their emotions when all they want is to track down the bastard that hurt Victor and the other boys and make the man pay for the crimes. Sometimes even officers of the law see the benefit of vigilante justice.

By the time they leave an hour later Victor actually seems less nervous. He had told the horrors of what happened to him and had not gotten in trouble for it. And his parents had not been hurt because he told the truth, which had been the threat over and over again. JJ smiles and pats his leg.

"I am very, very proud of you, Victor. You are a very brave boy. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Will you tell Emily I was good and brave?"

"I sure will. She will be very happy to hear it. I'll get your parents now, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, JJ. Bye, Pete."

Pete smiles and nods. "Bye, Victor."

As the two agents leave the parents hurry to them. JJ smiles at them.

"He did great. It helped him to talk it out. It gave him back some of the power that the unsub took from him."

"Uh, unsub?" Mr. Tobbin questions.

"Unknown subject. It's what we call the perpetrator until we know who he is. When we find him Victor will be key to getting him convicted. And he will do a great job taking down his tormentor."

The Tobbin's nod and go in to be with their son. Pete smiles at JJ.

"It was good he acknowledged me at the end. He's getting better already."

"Yes. With the right love and support, kids tend to get past these types of things better than adults. And catching the bastard that did this and making him pay will help, too."

"Then let's get to the house and see what we can do towards that end," Pete says.

JJ nods and the two agents make their way back to the house of horrors.

* * *

Rossi and Morgan carefully study the four exposed graves in the basement floor. Three are children, naked and showing signs of torture. The fourth is clothed and most definitely an older woman. Morgan uses a gloved hand to lift a mummified hand.

"Her mother's wedding ring." He turns the hand. "Nice watch. Bastard didn't even take the time to rob her. He just wanted this house."

Rossi nods. "Yeah. Here's where I'm a little confused: the whole floor was poured at the same time. There's no sign he ever dug an area up, buried a body, then resealed the flooring." He walks over to one body. "This one is a full skeleton, meaning it was decomposed when it was entombed. The others aren't."

Morgan stands. "So, he kills the woman and decides to bury not only her but 3 other bodies. These children came with him, probably already dead."

"He couldn't leave them in his last place. Why not?"

"It was a rental property? Couldn't risk them getting found and being identified?" Morgan suggests.

"Maybe. Or maybe his last place was discovered. If we can i.d. these kids maybe we'll find out the police were closing in on their suspected kidnapper."

Morgan nods. "And he ghosts and takes them with him so the police are left with nothing."

"Not with nothing. If they were buried and uninterred to be moved the police would have found the graves and evidence of decomposition," Rossi states.

"Baby Girl has another search to run."

Rossi nods. "And I think we need to send that thought to Katie Cole, too. Her Crimes Against Children's Unit may know the case if it happened the way we think."

Morgan nods. "You call her, I'll go get with Garcia. And after that I want to check on Emily."

Rossi nods. "Go ahead. I'll check her this afternoon."

Morgan smiles. "Deal."

Morgan gets upstairs to find Garcia with her glasses off rubbing her eyes. He starts to massage her shoulders. "You okay, Baby Girl?"

"I'm starting to pull the images Emily has isolated as good shots of the children and identifying marks on the men. God, Morgan, how the hell can she sit there watching all this when…when I'm just looking for specific images and it's tearing me apart? How can someone do this to children, Derek? How? And how the hell can Emily watch it without screaming?"

"I know this doesn't answer it completely, but Emily watches it so she can make these men pay for hurting these kids and get justice for them. It's just…the job. As to how these men do it? They are monsters. And it's our job to slay them, figuratively speaking."

"Well, if you want to be literal about slaying them I am all for it," Garcia says.

He kisses the top of her head. "I hear you, Baby Girl. Do you have time to run a pretty broad search that could help us narrow in on who this guy is?"

She slides her chair to another computer. "If it means stopping these bastards Hell's yeah I have time."

Morgan explains to her what he and Rossi are looking for. Garcia nods and starts to type.

"This is nationwide so it may take a while. If you think of anything that could help us narrow it more let me know."

"Until the M.E. gives us times of death for Ethel Steinberg we won't be able to narrow down when the kids were put down in the basement. We'll be able to work back from there to figure out when the bastard ran from his last hideout."

"Okay. Are you and Rossi getting ready to go question the neighbors?"

"We're going to try. But first I'm going to check on our princess."

"Good. Give her a kiss and hug for me."

"Will do. Be good, my goddess."

Morgan heads upstairs to the office. He opens the door and sees Emily is shaking with rage.

"Em?"

"Two, Morgan. Two fucking bastards hurt that little boy," she says through clenched teeth.

He wraps her up in a hug from behind. "Damn, Emily."

"But the fuckers messed up," she turns, her eyes like fire. "There was a mirror in the room."

Morgan's eyes widen. "Are you serious? You got a face?"

"I got both their faces. And we're going to use those images to find them and fry them."

Morgan nods. "Damn right we are."

Emily hands Morgan a DVD and a note with the counter information. "Get this to Garcia. We need this in facial recognition now."

Morgan gives her a big kiss on the cheek. "Faster than a bumble bee sipping whiskey, as my goddess would say."

Emily smiles, her eyes still hard. "Fucking A."

Emily follows him out of the room. She slowly walks through the upper level and looks at each room. She frowns.

"Shit. And the basement was a torture chamber. That wasn't shot here. Shit. Shit. Shit." She heads downstairs to let them know what she's just realized. Just as she gets to the bottom, Reid runs out of the living room.

"GOT IT! I know who's dubbing the DVD's and where!"


	7. Chapter 7

Emily gives him a big hug. "I could marry you, Reid!"

He smiles. "Don't tell JJ."

The two hurry into the dining room. For the first time since they received the case file they feel a glimmer of hope.

"Garcia, I figured out the name of the man who was dubbing the DVD's. I know he was in New York City."

Garcia reaches out her hand. "Gimmee!"

Reid hands her the information and she starts to type. "Okay, we have Mr. Roderick Cammile. And where the hell are you…aha, he owns a brownstone in the city that had once belonged to a film editor."

"And that would give him the equipment he needs to dub the DVD's."

"Yep! He is…oh…shit…he's dead."

Emily drops down into a vacant chair.

"What?" Reid asks.

"Died a year ago in a car accident," Garcia reports. "His house and all his belongings were sold to pay off debtors."

Morgan frowns. "We need to find out who bought his things. No way was this unsub going to risk one of his DVD's falling into the wrong hands."

"Gotcha." Garcia starts to type. "And welcome to bureaucratic bullshit. The auction has been completed but the full disclosure has not been posted yet."

"Give me a name and address. Time to talk to someone at the comptroller's office," Morgan states.

Garcia gets him all the information pertaining to their first solid lead. The agent heads out to see what he can find out about the people who participated in the auction.

* * *

Reluctantly, Emily goes back upstairs to the office. Just 50 or so more DVD's and she'd be done. She drops down into the chair and grabs the next, professionally done disc. As she goes to put it in she suddenly stops.

"Oh, fuck. Oh, shit we've been looking at this all wrong. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck."

She leaps up and races back downstairs. "REID! We're wrong!"

He steps into the hallway from the living room. Garcia and JJ step out of the dining room. Emily stares into Reid's eyes.

"There's the pedophiles and there's the businessman."

Reid sees what she's saying immediately. "He's the one that arranges the house, arranges the meetings- -"

"And then sells the finished product. We're looking for a mastermind who created a whole network of bastards," Emily finishes.

"Katie Cole…she has to know him," Reid says.

"There are videos taken somewhere else. We need to see Camille's house. That may have been his original hideout. Then something happened to get it moved here. He moved the sex and kids to a neutral location."

"And then Camille died. But since this place is still being used the businessman has to still be active," Reid states.

"And now he's lost his base of operations and his safety house. He'll find another city, another state to start again." She points towards the dining room. "His neighbor calling in the tip about the boy caused him to lose those computers. He needs them back."

"Shit," JJ mumbles. She turns to Garcia. "Let's get them packed up. We need to move them to the FBI office. They aren't secure here if he tries to come back for them."

"Right." The two blondes hurry into the dining room to get everything packed up.

Emily turns back to Reid. "I'll call Hotch. Break the business codes, Reid. We bust his business, we bust that bastard."

Reid nods and gets back into the living room. Emily whips out her phone. "Hotch! We need to get into a house in the city."

* * *

Morgan sits down with the woman that had handled the auction of the brownstone and its contents.

"So since he had no will and no relatives, the contents were auctioned off, right?"

"Correct."

"I need to know if there was anyone that made sure to buy all the electronic equipment: dubbing machines, DVD players, computers."

The woman frowns. "Agent Morgan, I feel strange letting you see this information. Maybe I should contact our counsel."

Morgan sits forward. "The man was dubbing child pornography, including snuff films. Two of my partners are having to watch film and video of that depravity to try to track down a child rapist and murderer. A little boy is in the hospital after having unimaginably horrid things done to his innocent body. Make sure you tell your counsel, that. Oh, and if this guy has another place? There's probably a kid getting raped there as you waste time."

The woman had gotten paler and paler as Morgan talked. He knew it was harsh but there was no time of politics. The woman opens a drawer and pulls out a thumb drive.

"The auction lists are on here. You can use my assistant's computer. She's on vacation."

Morgan takes it from her. "Thank you."

He goes out and gets set up at the vacant desk. Soon he is looking at a 127 page Excel file of auctioned items. He arranges it by purchaser and finds two names come up over and over again. He pulls out his phone.

"Garcia, I need you to run a search for me."

"Email me the info. We're moving the computers to a secure location at the FBI office."

"What? Why?"

"The Geek-namic Duo realized that the unsub will be desperate to get them back. If they aren't here a trap can be set for him without risking them being damaged."

"Damn. Good thought. Okay, I have two companies that bought a lot of things at the auction. I need to know everything about them."

"And you will as soon as I get back up and running."

"Perfect, Baby Girl."

* * *

By the time Emily drops off JJ and Garcia, Hotch has keys and a warrant for them to do a visual sweep of Camille's home. Until the final papers from the auction are signed it still belongs to the mortgage company. When Hotch explained what might have gone on there and what the public would think if the mortgage company was seen as cooperating with a pedophile ring their C.O.O. was more than happy to give up the keys.

Hotch climbs in the SUV and the two make their way over to the brownstone. Emily nods, impressed.

"Nice neighborhood, good size building, old construction. If this was his original home for abusing the kids the neighbors would have heard little. Pre-war construction was solid. Add in the modifications the film editor probably made for sound-proofing and you have the perfect set up for this asshole."

Hotch nods in agreement. "Let's go in and see if we can find anything left behind that will help."

"And I know it may have been renovated inside but maybe one of those rooms will be something I saw in one of the videos."

"Right. Let's go."

As they approach the house, something odd catches Emily's eye. She moves to the basement window.

"Hotch, window is covered from the inside. Maybe soundproofing?"

"Could be. Or just to make sure no one sees what the unsub doesn't want seen," he points out.

Emily nods in agreement. Pulling on gloves, the two agents go into the house. The main level is completely empty. On a hunch, Hotch goes over to the fireplace and reaches up to see if anything had been concealed in the now non-working showpiece. No luck. They search the main level for 20 minutes before conceding there is nothing there. Emily looks at Hotch.

"Ready for the basement."

"Sadly it's the perfect place to torture children," Hotch notes.

The two agents go downstairs. As soon as she turns on the lights, Emily inhales sharply. Hotch looks at her.

"Recognize it?"

Emily nods. She points. "The bed was there." She points to another wall. "There was a…a recliner there." She shakes her head. "You don't want to know what was against the other walls."

"You're right. And I'm sorry you know."

Emily just shrugs. "I specialize in kids. My own fucking fault."

"You can always change specialties," he suggests.

"And make someone else deal with the nightmares? That will just make me feel guilty. Look, I'll be okay, Hotch. It's just…harder now."

"I know. Say the word and someone else can handle the cases with kids for a while. Just temporarily maybe."

Emily gives him a small smile. "I'll…think about it. Thanks."

"Come on. Let's see what the upper two floors have in them."

Emily nods and starts up the stairs. Just as she reaches for the handle, the door is kicked inward. It slams into her and knocks her back into Hotch. The two agents tumble down the wooden stairs to the floor below. Hotch grunts as his head hits cement and he is knocked out.

Emily is seeing stars. She tries to get her hand to her gun but a boot connects with her head, flipping her backwards across Hotch.

"St- -stop," she mumbles, still trying to get her gun.

"Stupid bitch," a man sneers.

He kicks her once more and she is out. He stares at the two agents.

"Time to die, Cops."

* * *

Emily slowly starts to wake. Her head is throbbing. She tries to bring her hand to her head but it won't move. She tugs and registers the cuff. She blinks open her eyes and sees her left wrist is cuffed to an old radiator.

"H- -Hotch?"

She hears a moan. She looks over and sees he is cuffed beside her to the other leg of the radiator.

_"Oh, this isn't good_," she thinks to herself.

She uses her free hand to feel all her pockets but the unsub had been thorough: no keys, no gun, no chance for escape.

_"Okay, think. JJ and Garcia know where we are. When we don't come back they will…" _she sniffs_. "Oh, fuck…is that gas?"_

She hears the sound of a can bouncing down the stairs. She sees gas spilling out of it all over the floor and steps. Suddenly it registers in her fuzzy head: the bastard was going to burn them alive while he got rid of any evidence here at this location.

She starts to struggle, straining to see if there is any weakness in the links. No luck. As if it's a klaxon, she hears a Zippo struck.

"NO!" she screams.

Laughter is all she hears in response. She watches as the lighter is tossed down the stairs, igniting the gasoline, burning its way right towards her and Hotch.


	8. Chapter 8

Reid paces back and forth in the living room. Which of these many pieces of paper are the business records? Which…he stops and suddenly looks up at the ceiling.

"None of them. He wouldn't keep the business records with these records."

He races up the stairs and steps into the office. He sees the neatly organized piles that Emily had created. He knows better than to touch them. Instead he studies the room. What doesn't belong? What is out of place? He'd found the Shakespeare blind but there had to be something else. The unsub wouldn't risk having these records with him but he'd do his best to hide them in case he was caught.

"What doesn't fit? What doesn't fit?" he mumbles over and over as he slowly turns and studies the room.

"What are you doing?"

Reid leaps in fear as Rossi walks up behind him.

"Geezus, Rossi! A little warning next time!"

Rossi can't help but grin. "Sorry, kid. You're not messing with Emily's system, are you?"

Reid grins. "Do I look like I have a death wish? It dawns on me he'd separate the business records from the records we've accessed. Yes, we can see his clients but we don't see his earnings. And without that we can't trace his bank accounts. And without that- -"

"- -we can't trace him," Rossi concludes. "Good thinking. So, what are we looking for in here?"

"I have no idea."

Rossi glares at Reid. "Great. Let me know when you find it."

Reid laughs. "He hid his black book of codes in a Shakespeare book. His financial records would be even less apparent."

"Under drawers?"

Reid shrugs. "Worth a shot. Just don't mess with Emily's piles."

Rossi grins. "I know the routine."

The two men carefully pull out all the drawers, checking for false bottoms in them and anything taped under them. No luck. They start to carefully check each book on the bookshelf. Still no luck.

Rossi shakes his head. "We're still looking at this wrong. Has anyone been up in the attic since the Tobbin boy was rescued?"

Reid shrugs. "I think just a forensic team to get the sheets and pallet."

"The unsub hid the entrance so well Emily nearly missed it. He kept his most valuable possession, the boy, up there. Maybe his financial records, too."

Reid nods. "Good idea. We need to get JJ back here."

"Why JJ?"

Reid raises an eyebrow. "Because I may be skinny but I am way too tall to move around easily up there."

Rossi chuckles. "Good point. Call her. Just to be thorough, I'll check the other rooms to see if anything seems out of place and could be hiding the records."

Reid nods, already dialing JJ.

"Yeah, Spence?" she answers.

"Rossi and I think the unsub may have hidden his business records up in the attic. You're the right size to check it out."

There is a grand pause. "Are you calling me short, string bean?"

Reid laughs. "Not at all. I'm calling you perfectly suited for an import mission."

JJ grins. "Nice one. Garcia and the computers are secure. I'm on my way. Be there as soon as I can get through traffic."

"Great." Reid hangs up as Rossi walks back into the office.

"Nothing in these rooms. And I know the basement too well; there's nothing down there. Let's check the rest of the house."

Reid nods and follows Rossi downstairs to carefully pick through that level of the house.

* * *

JJ tries to call Hotch to let him know that Garcia is secure and that she is on her way back to the house to help Reid and Rossi. It goes straight to voicemail. She hangs up and tries Emily. Same thing.

Women's intuition kicks in and she doesn't like what it's telling her.

She tries Hotch once more and leaves a message.

"Hotch, I'm heading back to the house. Garcia is secure with the computers at the office. Call me when you can."

She hangs up and keeps driving. Her free hand toys with her phone, as uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. She hits dial again. She shakes her head when she gets Emily's voicemail on her personal phone, too.

"Em, call me. Please. Or text me. I just…please, just call me. I'm fine but I feel like you're not. Call me, okay?"

JJ pushes the gas down a little harder. She wanted to get to the team. Maybe they'll have heard from her wife and boss.

* * *

"Talk to me, Baby Girl," Morgan says as he answers.

"I traced those two companies. One raises money for a charity by buying stuff and reselling it. Totally legit with like 8 years of awards and kudos and such."

"Okay. And the other?"

"That is, I believe, our unsub," Garcia tells him. "It first appears 4 years ago with seed money from another company that has since disappeared and was only around for 4 years."

Morgan nods. "Avoids certain business taxes if it dissolves before 5 years are up."

"Right."

"Who is the owner?"

"Oh, that would be a man who was a highly decorated soldier…in the second World War."

"Son of a bitch. And the first company?"

"Also a World War II vet."

Morgan rubs his eyes. Think about it, Derek, he coaches himself.

"Garcia, were the men in the same unit?"

Garcia types a little. "As a matter of fact they were. They were in the 82nd Airborne together."

"Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?"

"They always say if you're going to lie, keep it simple. This unsub keeps records with the sort of precision the military would be impressed with. You've found 8 years worth of records."

"Morgan, I love you, but if you ask me to search any member of the military that got out of the service 8 years ago I will never speak to you again."

Morgan laughs. "Not any military member. Check members of the 82nd Airborne." He thinks a second. "No, wait! Check anyone who washed out of jump school. It's an insult to use heroes as blinds. That could be revenge."

"Ooo, good thought. Will take me a while to hack what…I mean, to _investigate_ what you need. Will hit you back soon, hot stuff!"

Morgan hangs up and starts to profile the unsub in his head: not necessarily a pedophile himself, in his 40's, organized, sociopath, smart enough to pull all this off but not good enough for Army special forces.

"Because he can't take orders," Morgan mutters. "He's got to be in charge and in control. We've destroyed his control center. SHIT!"

Morgan whips out his phone and calls Hotch. He gets voicemail.

"Damn it!"

He calls Rossi.

"Yeah, Morgan?"

"Rossi, get Banner into protective custody! If I'm right, the unsub will want revenge almost as much as he'll want his stuff back."

"You're right. Damn it. Pete just called. He's almost here. We'll go get Banner as soon as he arrives. Have you heard from Hotch and Emily?"

"I tried to call Hotch but got his voicemail."

"Okay. JJ is on her way here to search the attic. Reid thinks, and I agree, that the unsub may have hidden his bank information up there. Could be why the trapdoor was so well concealed."

Morgan nods. "That fits with what I'm thinking. Look, I'm heading your way. Garcia has the information from the auction of the potential unsub. I'll explain more when I get there. I'll try to get Hotch and Emily to meet us at the house. We need to prepare for the unsub to make a move to get his stuff back."

"Right. Okay, Pete just arrived. We're going to go get Banner."

Morgan hangs up and hurries out to his SUV. He uses lights and sirens to clear traffic ahead of him. He tries Hotch and then Emily several times.

They never answer.


	9. Chapter 9

Emily watches as a stream of gasoline gets closer to her. She rolls, ending up on top of Hotch and shivering as flames scorch the cement she had just been lying on. She looks down and sees Hotch is now awake.

"What the fuck?" he mutters.

"Do you have a pen?" Emily barks.

"A…a what?"

"A PEN! Do you have a fucking pen?"

She carefully slides off of him so he can search his pockets. He has no keys but he does have a retractable ball point pen.

"Perfect," she says as she grabs it.

With flames flicking close to her cuffed arm, she quickly unscrews the pen and slides out the insides, grabbing the spring.

"What are you doing?"

"Making a key."

"A key?"

"Yeah. Got Lauren's ass out of Prague. Hopefully it can work for us, too. Hell of a lot easier when it's not bloody," she says as she bends the spring until it resembles a handcuff key. "There!"

She shoves the key into her cuff and turns it, laughing with manic glee as it unlocks her cuff. She quickly sits up and frees Hotch. The agents quickly move away from the worst of the flames as smoke and heat are making the basement nearly unlivable. And the only visible way out is the stairs, which are engulfed in flames.

"How the hell do we get out?" Hotch asks.

Emily thinks about images of the room she has seen and the outside of the building as she had studied it when they pulled up. She turns and looks at a wall just starting to be eaten by flame.

"THERE!"

She races towards it. Hotch follows. She starts to bang on the wall and finally finds the hollow behind the wall. Both agents are coughing uncontrollably.

"Window," she mutters.

Hotch nods and together they punch at the drywall that covers the small window that leads to the street. As they finally break through, Hotch grabs the window lock and prays it works.

It does. He yanks it down, pulling the whole window out with it. He cups his hands and Emily immediately steps into them and pulls herself up and out. Hands grab her by the shoulders and drag her from the window as she coughs and hacks. She starts to scramble back to help Hotch but arms stop her.

"We got him! Easy, Lady!"

Emily just continues to cough as she watches two men pull Hotch from the burning building. She flops back down onto the sidewalk, desperately trying to get a decent breath in. Hotch drops down beside her.

A few minutes later EMT's arrive. Emily and Hotch gratefully accept oxygen as they watch the fire department fight to get control of the flames. After a few minutes, Emily looks at Hotch.

"Anything he hadn't gotten out is gone. We were too late."

Hotch nods. "Yeah. How the hell did he know?"

Emily shrugs. "Could have been coincidence. Place was auctioned off, we have his other house, he may have been trying to get what he could before running."

"And now he can. If he had enough hidden here to set up somewhere else we've lost him," Hotch says.

"Maybe. But there's still a little boy out there that can i.d. him. I don't see him leaving with that thread still loose. Not if he was willing to kill us while burning this place down."

"And he'll want to try to get things from the house on Long Island. We need everything removed from there, not just the computers."

Emily stands and throws off the blanket and oxygen mask. "Then let's go. No way am I letting anyone but me near all the stuff in the office. We don't have time to go through it all again."

Hotch stands. "Right."

He goes and has a few words with the fire chief. The two agents get a police officer to drive them, lights flashing and sirens blaring, back to the house on Long Island to get their evidence before the unsub torches it, too.

Emily rubs her head, the sirens piercing her skull like an arrow, making an already bad headache even worse.

* * *

JJ sees Rossi and Pete leaving the street with Mr. Banner. She frowns as she walks into the house.

"Reid, what's with the neighbor?"

"Protective custody." He explains Morgan's concerns. JJ nods. Reid studies her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Neither Hotch nor Emily are answering their phones. Not even sending texts."

Reid's brow wrinkles in concern. "We couldn't reach them either."

JJ shivers. She can't worry about maybes and what if's. "Let me get upstairs. If we find his bank info we find him."

Reid nods. He goes back to sorting the business lists for transport as JJ goes upstairs. Putting on gloves, she pulls herself up into the attic. The ceiling is so low she has to hunch over at the shoulders even in the highest part. She slowly turns, her flashlight lighting up each area very carefully. She sees where the pallet and dirty blanket had been laying before being they collected it for DNA processing.

"Oh, you poor boy, Victor."

She starts to look into the many boxes stuffed up there. Most look to be things that had belonged to the previous owner. She shakes her head. Years of memories are stored up here. They didn't have time to go through them all. If they weren't careful the unsub would be in the wind and more children would suffer.

"Think, Prentiss, think."

She turns and looks at everything again. Her eyes narrow as she sees the military-style footlocker.

"Ethel Steinberg never married. Might be hers, might not be."

JJ walks over and sees the new lock on it. "Where's Emily when I need her lock-picking skills?"

There is a fine layer of dust on most things in the attic but this footlocker is very clean. Too clean. She glances to where Victor's pallet had been.

"Far enough away the kids probably would leave it alone because they wouldn't want to pass the trapdoor." She looks back at the trunk. "This is yours, you fucking bastard."

She pulls her gun and checks the safety. Taking a deep breath (and hoping it works in real life the way it does on TV) she slams the butt of the gun into the lock. She smiles as it does in fact jar the locking mechanism enough to open the latch.

"Damn you're good, Prentiss," she praises herself.

She throws the lid open and looks inside. She feels her stomach turn as she starts to flip through the items.

Magazines and photos depicting women being tortured or in various sexual situations. All make her the submissive and usually she seems to be in pain.

"So our unsub isn't a pedophile just a fucking businessman who deals in kids," she growls in disgust.

She moves another folder and stops short. A brown leather ledger book sits on the bottom of the trunk. She opens it and starts to read. It's in code but it is mostly numbers. Large numbers.

"Gotcha."

She pulls a large evidence bag out of her pocket and slides the ledger in. She seals it and writes the time, date, and location of discovery on the bag. No way was this information getting tossed out on a technicality if she can help it. She looks through the rest of the items in the trunk but this is the only thing that stands out as being possibly part of the pedophile trafficking. She makes her way to the trapdoor and lowers herself out of the attic.

* * *

Downstairs, Reid looks up as Hotch and Emily hurry in. His eyes widen as he takes in their appearances. Both are soot covered. Emily's jacket is singed along one arm. Hotch's hair is uncharacteristically mussed and his white shirt is nearly black.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Reid asks.

"Turns out smoking really is bad for your health," Emily mutters.

Reid turns from her to Hotch. "What?"

"Unsub torched Camille's house. We were in it."

"Holy shit!" The agents turn and see JJ standing their, her eyes wide with fear. "Why the HELL didn't you call me?"

Emily walks to her. "He took our phones and guns. He cuffed us to a radiator and left us to die in that fucking basement. We came right here as soon as we got away from the EMT's."

JJ just shakes her head. "I knew something was wrong. I just…felt it."

Emily lays her hands on her wife's shoulders. "Well, have to admit, you and the kids were on top of my thoughts."

JJ pulls her into a hug. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"Mostly. Head is throbbing from falling and getting kicked twice."

"What? Em, you know the doctors said if you get hit in the head you need an MRI."

Emily frowns. "Uh, actually, I kind of forgot about that in the rush to get back here and secure all the evidence. The unsub was willing to torch that house to make sure nothing is found. He'll do the same here."

"Right." JJ holds up the evidence bag. "But he won't get this. Reid, it's full of codes and large amounts of money."

Emily smiles proudly. "You found his bank ledger."

"Yep, in the same place he hid his moneymakers: the attic."

Hotch nods. "Good job. Now, let's get this place packed up. Everything and anything we can find. We get it out of here and then we lay in wait for him. He'll come here and we'll catch him."

The agents nod. Emily turns towards the stairs and starts up. Suddenly she is hit with a wave of vertigo as her head starts to throb harder. She grabs the handrail as she sways.

"HOTCH!" JJ yells as she grabs her wife and eases her down onto a step.

He hurries over. "Prentiss, you might have a concussion."

"So might you," she snaps. "You were out from the minute we fucking landed!"

JJ and Hotch exchange a look. The angry retort is out of character…but familiar from the early aftermath of her recovery from the coma.

"You're right, I was. And I probably do. We secure the house and then we both get to the hospital for medical clearance. Deal?"

Emily stares into his eyes. She looks over and sees the concern in JJ's. She gives a slight nod. "Yeah. Deal. Sorry."

"I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't think about your head injury. I should have. JJ, help her catalog everything up there. We need to get it to the FBI building."

The two women nod. JJ and Hotch help Emily up. JJ keeps her hand on her wife's arm as they make their way upstairs.

In the office the women work in silence boxing up the DVD's and pictures. Emily sighs.

"I won't be back here, Jen. Hotch might be but I won't get cleared. I can tell."

"Yeah, I know."

"You all be careful. He had no compunction about leaving us to die in that basement. He will feel he has nothing to lose."

"Emily, we know. We'll be ready for him. I promise."

Emily just nods. She trusts her team but after what happened in the city she is hurting and nervous. She would remain that way until he is caught.


	10. Chapter 10

Garcia nods as Reid sets the last box in the office that had been set up for her. "I got it: no one but the team touches these boxes."

"Right. I'll be in the conference room down the hall breaking the bank book codes," he tells her.

"Have you heard from Hotch or Emily?"

Reid sighs and leans against the wall. "No. But Emily is probably going to end up in the hospital at least overnight."

"Oh, my poor princess."

"Yeah. She snapped at Hotch and nearly passed out as she started up the stairs. I think it's easy for all of us to forget just how badly she was hurt."

Garcia sighs. "Yeah, it is. She's just so…so Emily. I guess if she does get out of the hospital she can come and keep us company here."

Reid grins. "Yeah. Get two nerds working on the codes and the unsub doesn't stand a chance."

Garcia laughs. "Well said, Dr. Reid. Okay, now shoo: I have two searches that need my attention to narrow some parameters."

"Leads on the unsub?"

"Nope, his clients. If we can find them, then we can search from them back to the unsub. He had to have more than just the handwritten ledger. Somewhere he has a computer. And I plan to find it," Garcia says with determination.

* * *

The doctor walks into Emily's room. The look on his face says it all.

"Son of a bitch," she mutters.

He gives her a kind smile. "I'm sorry, Agent Prentiss. Knowing the case you are up here working I wish I could put you back in the field to track that bastard down. But you are not far enough past the serious head injury that put you in a coma for my comfort or your safety. For now, I'm not recommending an MRI. What will happen is every hour a nurse will come in and test your mental acuity. If you start to have slurred speech or unusual memory lapses we'll order the MRI."

Emily sighs, trying to come up with a better solution. There isn't one, not if she intends to keep her promise to Jen and their kids about accepting her limits. "I guess I sort of saw this coming. Still not happy about it."

"In the morning we can re-evaluate your status. You may be cleared to at least do some desk duty if all goes well through the night."

"Ugh. Desk duty."

The doctor grins. "Yeah, I didn't think that would go over very well. Take care, Agent Prentiss."

"Thanks, Doc."

About twenty minutes later, Hotch enters Emily's room. She frowns at him.

"You're cleared for duty, aren't you?"

He nods. "Yes. I understand you're not."

"Are you surprised?" she asks, eyebrow arching towards the ceiling.

Hotch can't help but smile. "No, I'm afraid I'm not." He steps over and takes her hand. "Things were crazy after getting out of there and getting to the crime house. I never got to thank you for saving my life with that pen-into-key move."

Emily nods. "Turns out not everything I learned in another life is worthless, I guess."

"I agree with that." He pauses a moment. "Emily, you said…it was easier since it wasn't bloody…"

Emily's eyes darken. "I got cocky and got caught. Shithead was going to…rape me then kill me. I got a pen, stabbed him in the throat, and then made a key with the spring."

"Was that spur of the moment thinking?"

She smiles darkly. "Nope. Sean taught me that one. He figured it would happen at some point while I was…her."

"Then I'm glad you learned it not only to save me but so that you saved yourself all those years ago." He pats her on the leg. "Get some rest, Emily. We'll see you in the morning."

Emily just nods. "Thanks, Hotch. Catch the bastard."

"We're going to try."

He leaves and Emily is left to stare at the ceiling, wishing she could be with her team to stop this asshole of an unsub.

* * *

After getting Banner into a safe house, Rossi returns to the crime scene. He and Morgan finish their third sweep of the house. Morgan looks at the older agent.

"As far as I can tell we have everything."

Rossi looks at the mass of books, magazines and knickknacks all over the living room floor. Even pictures on the wall had been removed and taken out of their frames.

"I agree. I also think we have destroyed or damaged a lifetime's worth of memories for a murdered old lady."

"True. But if we catch the asshole that killed her I'm sure her family will forgive us," Morgan points out.

Rossi just nods. JJ walks downstairs and joins them.

"Hotch is on his way back."

"Emily?" Morgan asks.

"Overnight for observation just like we expected," she answers. "The attic is clear. That trunk was all he had up there and it's mostly his domination porn. The ledger I gave to Reid earlier looks to be the only thing in regards to his…ugh, business. Seems wrong to call it that."

Rossi nods. "I second that. So we've got Reid looking into the bank records and Garcia tracking the customers with the help of an analyst on Katie Cole's staff. If these guys are on her radar it will be easier to cast our net and bring them all down at one time."

Morgan nods. "There is already a plan in place to start slapping cuffs on all these guys as soon as we arrest the ringleader. It will be a major sweep taking people down soon after we take him down so no one has time to run or destroy evidence."

"Good," JJ says bitterly.

"So now all we can do is wait," Rossi points out. "And I don't know about you but the waiting is worse than anything in my opinion."

Morgan and JJ both nod in agreement. The three agents pace as they wait for their boss and word on what their next course of action may be.

* * *

Hotch pulls up outside the crime house. He notices the neighbors and other onlookers have dispersed now that the M.E. vans and forensic vehicles are gone.

"No show, no crowd. Works for us," he mumbles to himself.

He goes inside and finds his three agents pacing in the living room. "The house is sanitized?"

"Well, it's clear of evidence. Considering what happened here I'm not sure it can ever be sanitary again," Rossi notes.

Hotch nods. "Good point. The bank ledger JJ found looks to be something our unsub has to have. He obviously didn't digitize it in case his computers were ever compromised. Pete Cartwright is going to give a status update to the news that we are done with this house and that we are still looking in the computers for the unsubs banking information in hopes of tracking him down."

"So it should make him come here," JJ sees, nodding. "Where will we be?"

"Here. But we first have to leave. I've already arranged with the owners of the house directly behind this one for us to return via their backyard. They want this asshole found as badly as we do," Hotch explains. "JJ, Morgan, I want you at the back of the house. He'll most likely try to come in that way so he's not seen from the street. Rossi and I will take the front. Do not try to take him down until he's inside. Here we control the scene; outside there are too many options for him to get away or take a hostage if someone happens to be walking by."

"Will we have police support?" Morgan asks.

"No. We know it's one man. The last thing we need is to tip him off that we are waiting for him. Once we are in, stay away from windows and no flashlights. If we tip him off we're here he'll know the bank line is a ruse. He'll be in the wind." He glances at his watch. "Let's get out of here for now."

The four agents leave and go to their hotel to change into their infiltration gear. On their way back, they pick up fast food and eat in the SUV's. After parking a street over they make their way to the privacy fence between the properties. The neighbor had already put a ladder out there so they are up and over quickly. In the house, they stand in the hallway so they can't be seen from the outside. Hotch glances at his watch.

"It's 7:15. Anyone know what time sunset is tonight?"

JJ grins. "Any of us look like Reid to you?" The agents all chuckle.

Hotch pulls out his phone. "Reid, when is sundown tonight?"

"That would be approximately 8:27 p.m. tonight."

Hotch chuckles. "Approximately 8:27? Isn't that sort of exact?"

"Well, the variations are due to where exactly you are in the city and also if cloud cover brings it earlier."

"Never change, Dr. Reid," Hotch says with amusement as he hangs up. "Okay, we have a little over an hour to wait. Anyone bring any cards?"

The team chuckles and each takes a seat. No one likes to wait but if they catch this guy the wait will have been worth it.

* * *

Christopher Ridgeley stands in Edmund Banner's kitchen watching his house. The fucking FBI agents had been swarming all over it for days because his last client was a damned fool and his payments were discovered by his wife. Since he couldn't admit what they were he decided to be a hero so she'd forget about them. Banner was lucky: had the FBI not put him into protective custody he'd have been a dead man.

He had managed to stop two of the agents…so he thought. But then he had seen the man that should have been cooked in Camille's brownstone walk into the house earlier. The female obviously was out of commission.

"Hmmm…are you dead or alive, Agent Prentiss?" he asks aloud, glad he had checked their credentials before leaving them for dead.

He lifts the card that had been left for his nosy-ass neighbor Banner and draws his thumb over the embossed lettering. He picks up the phone and starts calling around to various hospitals.

"Hi, this is Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi of the FBI. I'm calling to check on the status of one of our agents."

At the third hospital he finally finds success. "Yes, that's right: Emily Prentiss." He listens a moment. "Great. Thank you so much for the information. Oh, uh, what floor should we have flowers sent to?" He grins as the idiot on the other end answers. "Third floor. Perfect. Thank you so much for your time."

He hangs up. He watches the house again. He had seen the agents leap the backyard fence and sneak into the house. He waits until nightfall but no lights come on.

"Waiting for me to come get my ledger. Looks like I'll need to come with a bargaining chip."

He walks out of the house and casually strolls up the street to his van. Driving to a hospital just a couple of miles away he parks and goes into the back of the van. He digs around until he finds the doctor's scrubs he uses for…adult games. Quickly changing he kneels down at a small work station he has. Soon a plain white badge has the name of the hospital, his picture and his name on it: "Aaron Hotchner". If he has to swipe it anywhere he can play the old, "Damn, it's new and not working right," angle.

He opens a drawer and pulls out Emily's gun. He grins. "Taken with your own gun. That will sting…at least until I kill you." He shivers as he pictures her in his mind. "Of course, that won't be until after I've had some fun with you."

He clips the holster inside his pants and heads to the hospital to get what he needs to get his property back. No one questions him as he rides the elevator to the third floor. He strolls as casually down the hall as he had down the street an hour earlier. As he nears a room he hears a nurse talking.

"Okay, Agent Prentiss, last question then you can sleep."

"Hmph, for an hour and then you'll wake me again. Tell me, how the hell do I get better if you all keep waking me up?"

The nurse chuckles. "Sorry, Agent. Doctors orders."

Ridgeley looks around. Too many people right now. He'll wait until midnight. Then Agent Prentiss will be taking a little ride with him.

* * *

JJ runs a hand over her head. She looks at her watch: 11:24. Only four minutes after the last time she'd looked.

"Okay, if he missed the early news he had to have seen the late news, right?" she asks Morgan.

"I can't imagine he wouldn't be watching every chance he got if only to keep track of the investigation."

JJ nods. "Unless he doesn't have to." Morgan looks at her, eyebrow raised. "He was careful. Lots of forensic countermeasures. Used two different houses for his…business."

"He could be a cop."

JJ shrugs. "Maybe. Who the hell knows? He's been doing this a long time without being on anyone's radar. There has to be a reason for that."

Morgan nods. "He could deflect investigations if he needed to. He would also know when to cut ties with a location or a client and run."

"But Camille's death caught him by surprise. Has thrown him into a fit trying to tie up the loose ends and get out. Add in the Amber Alert tip and he didn't have a chance to get things done the way he normally would."

Morgan considers that but finally shakes his head. "Child trafficking like this is a full-time job. The DVD's, the renting of the house to pedophiles, keeping track of the internet sales…he wouldn't trust any of that to someone else. If he was a cop at some point he isn't now."

JJ shrugs. "And maybe that's how he got so sloppy this time."

Morgan thinks a second then pulls out his phone. "Garcia, cross reference the search for those who flunked jump school with former cops in the greater New York City area."

There is a grand pause. "Do you have _any_ idea how extensive a search like that will be? You know how many cops are former military?"

"I know, Baby Girl. But if anyone can find that information it's you."

"Well, that _is_ true. Not sure when I'll have it but I will let you know when I do."

"Thanks, Baby Girl. You always come through for me."

"Yes, my god of chocolate thunder, I do."

Morgan laughs and hangs up. Now…it was back to waiting.

* * *

While waiting for his chance to nab Emily, Ridgeley had wandered the hospital. He found where little Victor Tobbin was being treated but the boy had armed guards at his door. No problem: the kid had seen the client, not the business master.

At 12:05 a nurse walks out of Emily's room. He waits until she has disappeared into another room before he walks in. He sees the agent's eyes are closed as he approaches the bed.

"Didn't you just leave," she mutters, irritated.

He grins. "Just got here, actually." He cocks her gun.

Emily's eyes slowly open. She raises an eyebrow. "Is this a test of my reflexes?"

He smiles. "No, it's a test of how much you want to save a little boy's life. I believe his Mommy called him Timmy. Well, until I knocked her ass out."

Emily's eyes harden. "You're lying."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." He pulls out his phone and shows a picture of a young boy tied up and lying on the floor of a van. He shudders with revulsion. "Sick fucks messing with little kids is just…disgusting. But I'm sure you can see he is cute enough to make me a good bit of money once I get up and running again." He turns a wolfish smile on her. "I prefer adults."

"Gee, how nice for you."

"Now, I need your help, Agent Prentiss. I left something at my house and I need to get it back."

"Just knock on the door and I'm sure someone will be happy to help you," she says sarcastically.

He grins. "You're feisty. I like my women feisty." He tosses a set of scrubs on the bed. "Get up and get dressed. If you leave without causing a scene I will leave Timmy outside on a bench. Cause problems, and I kill him."

"A nurse will be in here soon," Emily points out.

"She just left. And won't be back for an hour. You see, Agent Prentiss, I've never been caught because I am careful. Now, be a good girl and get dressed. Timmy could be running out of air soon."

Emily stares at him. She can't tell if he's lying or not and she can't gamble Timmy's life. She stands and strips, forcing herself not to react to the lustful look on his face as he studies her body. When she is dressed he steps to her.

"Walk out close to me. Cause a scene and I will shoot anyone who tries to help you. And Timmy will be dead and his parents won't even have his body to bury."

Emily just nods. Ridgeley opens the door and peers out. Seeing the hallway clear he forces Emily out just ahead of him. They get to the stairwell without being seen. Unfortunately for Emily the stairwells are deserted at this time of night and no one sees them as they walk down to the ground floor. A door just off the stairwell takes them outside. Two blocks later Ridgeley stops her at a dark panel van.

"Hands behind you, Agent."

Emily shivers, thinking about the porn stash JJ had mentioned finding while they packed up the office. Emily shivers again when she feels the evidence of Ridgeley's arousal on her leg when he cuffs her, leaning closer to her than necessary. He opens the door and shoves her inside the van, quickly climbing in behind her and locking them in. He puts a knee in her back, crushing her chest down into the floor of the van.

"Where's Timmy?" Emily croaks, not seeing the boy.

Ridgeley gestures with his gun. "Back in the trunk. Time to shut you up for a while."

He grabs a ball gag. Emily grimaces figuring it has probably not been cleaned since it was last used. He ties it tightly, making her wince in pain. He rolls her over, straddling her waist. Her eyes do not betray the fear she feels inside as he runs his hand up under her shirt.

"After we get my bank book, you and I are going to have a little fun, Agent Prentiss."

She can't stop the involuntary shudder as he grabs her breasts. She struggles under him and nods her head towards the trunk. He chuckles and slides off of her. He makes his way to the trunk.

"Oh, Timmy? Time to come out now," he says in a sing song voice.

At that point Emily knows she's been tricked.

He opens the trunk and shows her that it is filled with items to be used in his domination/submission fetishes.

"Oops! That's right: a kid would slow me down so I figured I'd use an agent as a bargaining chip instead." He gives her a sick grin. "My bad."

As he starts to move past Emily to get to the drivers seat she kicks out at him, slamming him into the side of the van. She kicks again, hopping to make enough noise and shake the van enough that someone passing by might stop to see what's happening. Ridgeley leaps on top of her. He draws back and punches her in the face.

Emily goes limp, her head once again exploding in pain.

"Stupid bitch," he mutters. He grabs a set of shackles that will allow her to walk but not run and secures her feet. He then takes two straps, tying her feet to a cross bar at the end of the van and her hands above her had to another cross bar near the seats. His dick grows hard as he pictures her naked and trussed up the same way. He strokes a hand down her face.

"I'm going to make you scream, Agent Prentiss. And I'll make you beg. You're mine now, bitch."

He gets in the drivers seat. Time to get his ledger.


	11. Chapter 11

"YES! GOT IT!" Reid races into Garcia's office. "Garcia, input this string of code."

"Okay, boy wonder," she says and does as he asks.

A second later a stream of information pops up. Her eyes widen. "Oh, my God, is that…? YES! Reid, you so TOTALLY rock!"

She starts to process the information and feed it into one of the programs she is working on with the analyst at the Crimes Against Children unit. Soon, their two databases are syncing and downloading the names, addresses, bank accounts, email addresses, credit card information, and anything else the unsub had gathered on his clients.

"Reid, there are like….hundreds of names here. We're going to take all these sick fuckers down," the analyst says with uncharacteristic venom.

"Yes, we are. I have to call Hotch." Reid pulls out his phone.

Hotch feels his phone vibrate and steps into the hallway so the glow from the screen won't be seen from the outside.

"What is it, Reid?"

"We cracked it, Hotch. We have it all: names, addresses, bank accounts for both the unsub and all of his clients. It _was_ digitized but it was hidden in cyberspace with…well, hell, Garcia can explain it better than me. Essentially it was a website only he knew about."

"Damn good job, Reid. Of course that may mean he doesn't need his ledger."

"I think he'll still want it. Especially if he thinks we don't have it," Reid says. "He has so many notes on people in here he may not have that all on the site. Some of this is just for his own personal knowledge and blackmail opportunities."

"Right. You two keep working on it. We'll stay here through the- -"

Rossi steps into the hallway. "Black panel van just pulled into the driveway."

"Reid, I have to go. He's here."

Hotch hangs up and moves back into the living room. They watch as the unsub, who had backed the van in sits there for a few minutes.

"What the hell is he doing?" Rossi asks.

"I don't know. Maybe just watching for movement."

"No way. He'd have done that already. Was probably in the street watching the house to make sure no one was here before going for his van."

"Maybe." Hotch lifts his mike. "Morgan, JJ, someone is out front in a van. Hold- -holy shit."

Hotch and Rossi stare as a dark-haired, somewhat nice looking man drags a cuffed and shackled Emily out of the van. She staggers a bit, obviously woozy. The man gives her a second to recover then starts to march her towards the house with a hold on one of her arms and a gun at her head.

Hotch raises his wrist with the mike again. "He has Prentiss."

Morgan and JJ race to the front of the house, arriving in time to hear the man out front call to them.

"Agents, I saw you sneak over the fence earlier and know you're in there. I have something of yours and you have something of mine. I will tell you what to find and where to find it. The blonde will get it for me then Agent Prentiss and I will drive off into the sunset. I will release her as soon as I know no one is following us."

JJ looks at Hotch. "Hotch, I saw his porn stash: he won't let her go. He'll…he'll rape her, torture her, and kill her. That's what he likes and that's what he'll do."

Hotch stares into steely blue eyes. He nods. "I believe you. The problem is, even if we thought he'd let her go, we don't have the ledger."

"Get him in the house. We get them in here, we can take him down. Emily will know what to do to give us the shot," JJ says confidently.

"AGENTS! I'm getting tired of WAITING!" Ridgeley hollers. He nuzzles Emily's neck and ear. "Don't worry, baby, I'm not giving you up before you've had a chance to feel my kind of loving. I'll 'release' you in ways you never even imagined," he whispers to her.

Rossi, watching from a window, shakes with an anger he didn't know he could feel as the unsub kisses Emily's neck. He sees the look of shame and repugnance on his friend's face, her eyes closed as she is powerless to stop the man holding her at gunpoint.

Hotch steps forward and opens the door. "Come in and tell us what you want."

The man laughs. "Do I look stupid? First of all, toss your guns out onto the lawn."

Hotch takes a deep breath and tosses out the gun he had checked out of the New York FBI armory. He starts to step back.

"Wait!" the unsub yells. "Pant leg up."

Hotch glares at the man and lifts his pant leg…to reveal his clutch piece. The unsub smiles.

"You forgot one, Agent Hotchner."

As Hotch tosses that one, the unsub nods. "Good boy."

One by one Morgan and JJ step to the door and toss their gun and clutch piece. Rossi steps up last and tosses his gun. He lifts his pant leg.

"I'm too old and too stiff to carry a clutch piece," he admits with anger.

The unsub grins. "Good to know, old man. Are you too stiff to have had a piece of this," he asks as he pulls Emily closer. "Or maybe for her you pop a couple of little blue pills and _really_ get stiff."

Rossi just glares at the man. The unsub smiles. "Get the blonde to the door again."

JJ steps forward, grinding her teeth when she sees the man holding her wife kiss up her neck to her ear. Emily closes her eyes again, not wanting to see the look in her wife's eyes at the gesture. On the outside, JJ still betrays nothing. On the inside she's calculating whether or not she can dive out the door, grab a gun and shoot the bastard before he reacts.

No chance.

"Okay, Blondie, you need to go up in the attic where the kids were kept. There's an old army footlocker up there." He tosses her a set of keys. "I need to the ledger that's in there. The rest you can keep for your own entertainment. Might give you an idea of the fun Agent Prentiss and I will have if you try to trick me." He shifts his free hand and shoves it between her legs. Emily stiffens against the assault. "I bet she'll be a hell of a ride."

Emily slowly opens her eyes. She locks them with JJ's. JJ nearly winces at the pleading look she had never thought she'd see in those brown orbs. JJ swallows twice before she can speak.

"I'll need help getting up there and back down."

"No you won't. Big, bad ass agent like you should make it just fine."

"HEY!"

Ridgeley spins as Rossi yells at him from beside the van. Emily immediately drops to the ground as a shot rings out.

Hotch, Morgan and JJ can only stare in shock as the unsub's head explodes. Rossi runs up and kicks the gun away from the dead man's hand.

"I lied about the clutch piece, you sick sack of shit."

JJ races out to pull Emily away from the unsub's body and quickly removes the ball gag. Emily leans against her wife.

"Oh, Jen," she says weakly.

"Shhh, baby, it's over. Let's get the cuffs and shackles off. It's all over."

JJ just keeps whispering words of comfort to her wife as she frees her. Morgan and Hotch hurry over to Rossi. Hotch glares at his mentor.

"When the hell did you sneak out?"

"You three were watching the unsub and Emily. That fucker was watching you and JJ. He never expected an old fart like me would lie to him."

Hotch manages a grin. "I didn't expect it, either." He claps Rossi on the shoulder. "Good job, old fart."

Rossi forces a smile to his face. "Thanks."

He steps past Hotch and Morgan, who is calling for the EMT's and the coroner. Rossi kneels down beside Emily and JJ. He pats Emily's leg.

"You okay, kid?"

Emily nods, tears on her cheeks. "Will be." She takes Rossi's hand. "Thank you. He wasn't…wasn't going to let me go. He told me what he was going to do. He…he…"

Rossi shakes his head. "Just words now, Emily. There was no way in hell we were going to let him get away with you. That blonde holding you isn't the only one who loves you, you know?"

Emily manages a weak smile. "Yeah, I know."

JJ reaches over and pats Rossi's shoulder. "Nice shot, Rossi."

"Thanks, kid." He stands. "Take care of her, alright?"

JJ smiles and nods. "You know I will." With the sounds of sirens getting louder, JJ turns Emily's head so they are looking into each other's eyes. "Emily, did he rape you?" JJ whispers.

Emily shakes her head. "Not yet. Just…touched me; groped me. Kissed my neck a few times. I had to go with him, Jen. He said he had a little boy. He showed me a picture."

"I thought it might be something like that."

Emily starts to cry again. "I couldn't let him hurt a little boy again. I just couldn't."

JJ pulls her close. "I know, sweetheart. I know. You did what you had to do. I get it; I swear, baby."


	12. Chapter 12

At 9 a.m. the next morning there is a coordinated take down of the hundreds of clients of Christopher Ridgeley. Some had been on the radar of various Crimes Against Children divisions, including Katie Cole's, for some time. Others were new to the units but would pay just the same for the crimes against Victor and the many other children in the DVD's and photos found in Ridgeley's office.

Morgan and Hotch walk into the safe house. Morgan glares at Edmund Banner.

"What was it, Edmund? He want your house next? Or maybe he wouldn't let you play for free anymore?"

Banner's eyes are terrified. "I…I…I don't…"

Hotch grabs him and spins him around. "Edmund Banner, you are under arrest for rape, child pornography, statutory rape, kidnapping, aiding and abetting, and any other fucking thing we can think of!" he secures the cuffs a little tighter than necessary.

"I…I don't understand."

Hotch spins him around and pins him against the wall. "Your story about how you saw Victor Tobbin doesn't match what Victor said. He was smuggled into the house in a large duffle bag that had been in a car that matches yours. Maybe Ridgeley blackmailed you into it but you're still on the hook for the kidnapping."

Morgan steps up behind Hotch's shoulder. "And if that isn't enough, we found your banking information and a full listing of all the DVD's and photo's you've purchased from Christopher Ridgeley. _You_ were the last fuck to use that house. _You_ were the one who took Victor Tobbin and the first one to abuse him. He identified your picture, you fuck. So whatever Ridgeley did to piss you off? You're going down just like he would have had he lived."

And so the man who started the investigation is the first to be arrested as it ends. Hotch and Morgan drag him out to the waiting police car…ignoring his pleas to hide his face from the reporters who had been "leaked" information regarding the arrest.

Turns out JJ still has some contacts in the greater New York City media and was happy to use them for this.

* * *

Emily opens her eyes at 11 a.m. to find her entire team in chairs around her hospital room. JJ sees her wife is awake and stands. She lifts Emily's right hand in hers.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

"My head is throbbing," Emily answers.

"I figured that. What about the other?"

Emily knows JJ is asking about the molesting she'd had to endure as a captive of a sexual sadist. Emily shrugs. "Let's just say it's a good thing Westfallen is on my speed dial," she answers without humor.

JJ strokes her left hand through brunette locks. "As you've vowed to me I vow to you: whatever you need, whenever you need it."

Emily nods, squeezing JJ's hand. "I know, Jen. Thank you."

JJ shakes her head. "No need to thank me for loving you."

She leans over and kisses Emily on the forehead. JJ looks up as Hotch approaches the bed.

"Prentiss, how are you feeling?"

"Fucker took me hostage with my own gun and then felt me up. How do you think I feel?" she counters with anger that has nothing to do with her head injury.

Hotch nods. "Right. Dumb question. The good news is with Ridgeley dead his business is done."

"Did we at least take down his network? If not they'll find other ways to…get their fix," Emily states bitterly.

Reid walks over. "At 9 a.m. this morning 327 men and women were arrested across the country. Police in 4 other countries have been notified of clients of Ridgeley and are preparing to arrest them, too."

Emily sighs. "Thank God. Unsub is Ridgeley?"

"Yes. Rossi made sure he can't ever get his business up and running again," Hotch assures her.

Emily closes her eyes. "Good. Then maybe this fucking headache is worth it."

Hotch nods. "I know you can't fly out today but wheels up at 4 for the rest of us. JJ?"

"Are you really asking? I mean, seriously?" JJ stares at him in astonishment.

"Jen, go home," Emily says, forcing her eyes back open.

"No! Emily, don't ask me to leave you here."

"Unsub is dead so he can't come after me again. You can go home and let Rocky and Henry know I'll be okay soon and that I'll need lots of Henry Hugs and Rocky Kisses when I get there."

JJ stares at her wife. "Emily, it's Wednesday. We've only been gone 3 days. And they were with Will and Helen until yesterday. Me waiting a day to go home with you won't hurt them."

Emily frowns. "Three days…seems like so much longer," she says quietly.

JJ nods. "I know. But the doctor will probably release you this evening and we can fly home tomorrow. Or take the train or rent a car if you don't want to risk flying. One more night will be okay as long as you talk to them later." She smiles. "They missed talking to Batman last night."

Emily can't stop the smile. "Yeah, Batman missed that, too."

JJ looks at Hotch. "I'll take a comp day."

"No you won't. We'll consider it a continuation of the case. If you two weren't married I'd have to leave an agent behind with Emily anyway. That's SOP."

JJ chuckles. "Right. Forgot about that."

"I could stay if you want," Morgan offers walking up. "I'm sure I could have some fun for a night in the Big Apple."

JJ smiles. "I'm sure you could but I got this, Morgan. Promise."

There is a tap on the door and it opens to admit Pete Cartwright. "Hi, is she- -she is! Hi, Em. How you feeling?"

"Like a Mack truck hit me."

"Yeah, I bet. Uh, look, any chance I can get your statement from you? I want to put this damn case to bed so I can forget it about it for a while."

Emily nods. "Sure." She looks at her team. "Uh, mind giving us privacy for this? I don't want…I'll have to…I just…"

JJ pats her arm. "We understand. Come on, guys."

JJ herds the team out. Rossi glances at the bed. Emily gives him as confident a smile as she can muster. He nods and closes the door behind himself. Pete steps up to the bed.

"Em, based on what the others said, would you like a female agent to conduct this interview?"

She shakes her head. "I trust you, Pete. That means more to me than anything."

He smiles. "Thanks. Well, let's get started."

When he leaves 45 minutes later he offers his hand to Rossi, who stands with the team. "If you hadn't taken that bastard out I might've been in danger of losing my badge."

Rossi smiles. "Funny, protecting Emily has that affect on people."

Pete grins. "Maybe it's because she's so tough all the time. Always has been. So when she's hurt or…or vulnerable, a word I don't think I've ever used about her before, it makes us that much angrier. But one thing I do know about her is she'll be fine. She'll use this to make herself a better agent; a better voice for the victims. That bastard Ridgeley just made the world a hell of a lot safer."

Morgan smiles. "You nailed that on the head."

JJ gives Pete a hug. "Thanks for being the one to take her statement, Pete. I appreciate it."

"No problem. And if she gets out tonight plan on dinner with us. I know Vicky will want to see Em's really okay."

JJ nods. "It's a date."

* * *

Emily is released just after 4 p.m. She insists on making a stop before leaving the hospital. JJ smiles and rides the elevator up to the children's ward with her. Emily breathes out in relief when she sees Victor Tobbin actually smiling as he talks with his parents.

"Hi, Victor," she says from the doorway.

The little boy waves shyly. "Hi, Emily. Hi, JJ." He frowns. "Who hurt your head, Emily?"

Emily walks over and takes his hand. "The bad man hurt it. But he can never hurt me or you ever again."

Victor swallows nervously. "Did…did you shoot him for me?"

Emily shakes her head. "No, I didn't shoot him. But he was killed by another officer when he wouldn't surrender." She gives his hand a squeeze. "He will never hurt you again," she reiterates.

Victor nods, looking at their hands. After a moment he looks up at her. "What about…the other man?"

JJ steps forward. "He was arrested. You were so brave to identify him from those pictures Pete showed you. He won't be able to hurt you again, either."

"Promise?"

Part of JJ knows there is no guarantee when it comes to the courts. But a larger part of her is a mother. She nods to him. "Promise."

* * *

After dinner that night at the Cartwright's, Emily and JJ get back to their hotel room around 9:30. Emily drops down onto the bed.

"I still can't believe it's only been 3 days."

JJ nods. "I know. Me, too." She lies down beside her wife and cuddles against her side. "Do you know how hard it was to toss out my guns when he had you? I just…I just…"

Emily kisses her temple. "You had calculated the chances for a shot. And then you calculated how long it would take to dive out the door, grab a gun and fire."

JJ looks up at her wife. "How do you know that?"

Emily smiles at her. "Because I'd have done the same damn thing."

"Great minds think alike," JJ says with a smile.

"Damn right." The two lay there in silence a few minutes. Emily suddenly rolls to her side and stares into JJ's eyes. "Jennifer…I need to…I need…"

JJ strokes a hand down her wife's face. "Anything, anytime, Emily. Always."

Emily gives her a deep, passionate kiss. When it ends, she stares with eyes more defenseless than JJ has ever seen.

"Make love to me. Please. Please show me what love is. Erase that bastard's words and actions from my memory. Please, Jennifer."

JJ sits up, kneeling on the bed. She slowly removes her shirt and bra. She takes Emily's hand and places it on her heart.

"This is love, Emily." She slowly undoes Emily's blouse and caresses the strong abdomen she exposes. "My touch is love." She undoes Emily's bra, watching her wife shiver; knowing that bastard had felt breasts which are hers. "These are mine. He can't take them from me. They are mine because they are part of you and I love all of you, just as you love me."

"He…he…"

"Shhh…forget him. Just feel me, Emily," JJ says as she starts to gently knead Emily's breasts.

The dark-haired woman lies back down on the bed. JJ straddles her wife. Emily has a momentary flash of fear. JJ leans down and gives her a gentle kiss on the lips. She takes Emily's hands and moves them to her waist. Emily shivers in fear.

"It's me, Emily. Touch me, feel me, inside and out: feel me, baby."

Emily runs her hands up and down JJ's sides as JJ leans over and kisses her wife again. A few gentle pecks, a swipe of her tongue along plump lips. She places small kisses along Emily's jaw. Emily shivers again…but this time with lust. JJ kisses her way up and down Emily's neck.

"Oh, Jennifer," Emily whispers.

JJ brings her head up and looks into her wife's eyes. "I love you, Emily Prentiss. And I will always be here to love and protect you. Always."

Emily tangles her hand into golden locks and pulls her wife into another passionate kiss. JJ shifts a little and undoes the slacks Emily wears. JJ pulls out of the kiss as she slides her hand into Emily's pants. She holds her wife's eyes as her hand strokes the hard clit through underwear. Emily rocks against the hand. After a few minutes Emily nods to her wife.

JJ stands and removes her pants and underwear. She then finishes undressing her wife. She sees the bruises from the fall down the stairs but it doesn't matter to her.

"You are so beautiful, Emily Prentiss."

She climbs back on the bed, straddling one of Emily's legs. Emily moans when she feels how wet her wife is. JJ rubs her center along the muscular leg below her.

"Can you feel my love for you? My desire? He didn't take that from us, Emily. No one ever could."

"Oh, Jen," Emily husks as a tear slips down her cheek.

JJ leans over and licks the tear away as her hand moves back to Emily's center. JJ enters her slowly, carefully. They rock against each other as JJ suckles at Emily's breasts, moving back and forth between them; cleansing them with her love. When she feels her wife teetering on the edge of ecstasy, JJ sits up and they once again lock eyes.

"Te amo, Emily Prentiss."

Emily screams as her orgasm washes over her. JJ presses her center down against Emily's twitching thigh and follows her wife over the edge. She eases down and pulls Emily close. Emily clings to her. After a few minutes, Emily swallows emotionally.

"I love you, Jennifer. Thank you so much for loving me the way you do."

JJ pulls her closer and kisses her forehead. "You never have to thank me for loving you, Emily. Never."

JJ gently runs her hand up and down Emily's back, soothing the woman to sleep. JJ kisses her forehead again.

"Now and always, Emily. Now and always," she whispers to the love of her life.

* * *

Emily had worried the train would be too loud so she and JJ rented a car for the drive back to Virginia. They arrive at Quantico just after 2 p.m. on Thursday. As they get off the elevator the first person they run into is Chief Straus.

"Agents, glad you made it back. Are you okay, Agent Prentiss?"

Emily shrugs. "Still have a headache but other than that I'm okay."

"You were in a scary situation. I'm assuming you know you'll need to see a Bureau psychiatrist before being cleared back to duty."

Emily nods. "Yes, ma'am. Truth is I knew the team would get me out of that situation. I just wasn't sure how," she adds with a grin.

Straus smiles. "I'm not sure anyone saw that end coming. That Rossi is a heck of a shot."

Emily laughs. "Yes, he is. Might give Jen a run for the money on the range."

JJ grunts. "Ha. I can take him any day with one clip tied behind my back."

Straus grins. "I'm sure. Well, good job up there. Your team's work has stopped a huge ring of child pornography around the world. Very impressive work indeed."

"Thank you, ma'am," they say as they continue on into the bullpen.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Reid asks when he sees Emily.

Emily smiles. "I'm good. Had the perfect nurse," she gives JJ a wink.

Reid grins. "So you didn't miss Morgan?"

Emily chuckles. "No offense to him but not a bit." She glances up at Rossi's office. "Rossi not here?"

"Left early. Said he needed some time."

Emily sighs. "He took the shot in anger, didn't he?" Reid nods. "Was still a damn good shot."

"He knows. He'll get over it. He just needs a little time."

"Well, I can understand that."

Emily gets her computer up and running. She sends out an email.

"_Dave,  
Thank you is not enough. If you need to talk or anything, I am here for you. I love you.  
Emily."_

With that taken care of, Emily starts to clear the rest of her emails, noting the appointment for the next morning with the Bureau shrink is at 10. Good thing her appointment with Westfallen is at 8:00.

* * *

"MAMA! MOMMY!"

"MA! MAMA!"

Emily smiles as Henry runs and Rocky crawls toward her. She drops down to her knees so they can both welcome her home. She gets hugs and kisses from both of them.

"I love you two so much," she tells them. "_And I will protect you with everything I have in me. I promise,_" she vows to herself.

JJ runs a hand over her wife's head, suspecting the unspoken vow. "So, were you two good for Aunt Franny?"

Henry nods and throws himself at JJ. "Si, Mommy. Henry and Wok good."

She lifts him up, giving him a hug and kiss. "That's my good boy." She leans over and kisses Rocky as Emily stands with their little girl. "And my good girl, too."

That night when Emily gets to sing both of her children to sleep she once again confirms what she has always believed: Henry and Rocky are better medicines for her than anything a pharmaceutical company has ever invented.

* * *

**A/N: Shew! What a ride. So glad to have this thought worm out of my head. No, I am not done with the next story yet but I really just wanted this one done. It was emotionally exhausting to write.**

**Again, my deepest respects to cops and agents who have to watch and experience this stuff to catch bastards like Ridgeley in real life. And respect to the doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, etc. who have to help little children rediscover that the world is not filled with monsters. **

**-AR**


End file.
